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2.3.2. the 1970S: the Socialist Revue Falters

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2.3.2. the 1970S: the Socialist Revue Falters This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: MacHals, Andy Title: Reconstructing the East German Extravaganza Acquisition and appropriation of revue practice at the Friedrichstadt-Palast since 1945 General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. RECONSTRUCTING THE EAST GERMAN EXTRAVAGANZA Acquisition and appropriation of revue practice at the Friedrichstadt-Palast since 1945 Andy Machals A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for award of the degree of Doctor in Philosophy in Theatre in the Faculty of Arts, School of Arts, Department of Theatre. November 2018 91,390 words Abstract This dissertation interprets formerly East German Marxist concepts of cultural acquisition and appropriation in terms of performance studies and applies this lens to an analysis of the Friedrichstadt-Palast’s revue practices since 1945. The methodology of this dissertation revisits archival material of the revue’s past and, for the first time, relates the theatre’s revue practice from before to the practices after German reunification in 1990 by construing the revue as the epitome of performance reconstruction. This dissertation thus challenges dominant notions of reappraising the East German past by relating the Friedrichstadt-Palast’s present to its past performance practices. Chapter 1 considers conscious reconstructions of dramaturgical patterns since 1945 and introduces the concept of ‘prospective consciousness’ as an ideological form. Chapter 2 explores how unconscious ways of reconstructing and appropriating bodily practices have formed the moving socialist revue body in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In light of this analysis, the Friedrichstadt-Palast’s development from a variety to a revue theatre in the 1970s is re-evaluated as a development based in both economics and what I call ‘socialist virtuosity’. Chapter 3 considers the building of the New Friedrichstadt- Palast in 1984 as an extension of Marxist cultural techniques into aspects of stage technology. Although it is commonly considered as the last functional building built in the GDR, I discuss it as a manifestation of a specifically East German ‘techno-futurism’. Chapter 4 considers the Palast’s contemporary practice and identifies how principles, which used to be based in ideological considerations of culture, have turned into paradigms, that is, foundational designs that express the ways in which the Palast’s contemporary global aspirations take form. Through considering the GDR revue, I was able to draw out the various temporalities that still shape the contemporary revue and that, at the same time, trouble concepts of Germany’s coming-to-terms with its past. i ii Author’s declaration I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the University's Regulations and Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes and that it has not been submitted for any other academic award. Except where indicated by specific reference in the text, the work is the candidate's own work. Work done in collaboration with, or with the assistance of, others, is indicated as such. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author. SIGNED: DATE: iii iv CONTENTS Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................................ i Author’s declaration ................................................................................................................................................................ iii Contents ....................................................................................................................................................................................... v List of Illustrations .................................................................................................................................................................. vii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................................ xiii INTRODUCTION | THE FORGOTTEN SOCIALIST REVUE EXTRAVAGANZA AND ITS LEGACIES .........................1 Reconstructing the Extravaganza ........................................................................................................................... 5 Practice as a link between memory contests and theatre historiography ...................................................... 14 Views & materials .................................................................................................................................................. 22 Thesis structure and scope ................................................................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 1 | EAST SIDE STORIES: RECONSTRUCTING IDEAS AND NARRATIVES .............................................. 33 1.1. Berlin, ideology, and narrativity ................................................................................................................... 43 1.1.1. The same but different: Acquiring the past ..................................................................................... 44 1.1.2. Prospective dramaturgies and a concrete future ............................................................................. 51 1.2. Curating memories of practice: Reconstructing the history of the revue ............................................. 56 1.2.1. Practice is never for the first time ..................................................................................................... 58 1.2.2. Curating fragments of practice .......................................................................................................... 62 1.3. Coda: The revue extravaganza—a synthetic genre ................................................................................... 65 CHAPTER 2 | ‘OF COURSE, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SOCIALIST HANDSTAND! BUT…’: SOCIALISM, HUMANISM, AND VIRTUOSITY IN EMBODIED REVUE PRACTICE BETWEEN 1950 AND 1980 67 2.1. Performances and contexts: From humanist narrative to socialist bodies ............................................ 74 2.2. The labour of socialist virtuosity .................................................................................................................. 88 2.2.1. The socialist handstand: Appropriating techniques of movement .............................................. 90 2.2.2. Scripted affects and the classical-technical vortex .......................................................................... 93 2.3. Dance practice and the uniform line of socialist virtuosity ................................................................... 101 2.3.1. The 1960s: Rejecting variety, reconfiguring dance ....................................................................... 103 2.3.2. The 1970s: The socialist revue falters ............................................................................................. 113 2.4. Coda: A blessing in disguise ....................................................................................................................... 121 CHAPTER 3 | TECHNO-FUTURISM: THE DIALECTICS OF STAGING TECHNOLOGY ......................................... 124 3.1. Techno-futurism premieres during Premiere: Friedrichstraße 107 (1984) ................................................ 133 3.1.1. Directing the dialectics of techno-futurism ................................................................................... 136 3.1.2. The logistics of going forward ......................................................................................................... 142 3.1.3. Back to the future at 8.50pm ............................................................................................................ 155 3.2. Phantasms, alternatives, and change in Traumvisionen (1988) ................................................................. 159 3.3. A Socialist Total Theatre ............................................................................................................................. 166 3.3.1. Engendering the dialectics of techno-futurism ............................................................................
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