A Stage for Debate: The Political Significance of Vienna’s Burgtheater, 1814–1867

"Despite rigorous Hapsburg censorship, the Vienna Burgtheater developed during the mid-nineteenth century an impressive range of dramatic discussion of such burning questions as individual liberty, nationalism, and women’s role in society. This illuminating study reveals how one of Europe’s most significant theatres dealt with such questions during a critical period in its history."

Marvin Carlson, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Sidney E. Cohn Chair in Theatre Studies, City University of New York

"Contesting previous dismissals of the Burgtheater as a conservative bastion or a site for frivolous entertainment in the mid-nineteenth century, Martin Wagner compellingly argues that a diverse dramatic repertoire and heterogenous audience made Vienna’s court theatre an important site for public political debate, particularly for Austrian liberalism. This clearly written and well researched book is an essential new resource not only for scholars of Austrian and German theatre, but also for any historian of the Habsburg empire."

S.E. Jackson, Associate Professor of German and Scandinavian Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst

"Martin Wagner’s book is a thought-provoking study into the relations between literature, theatre, and society. His in-depth analysis of the Vienna Burgtheater’s polyphonic repertoire shows that in spite of severe censorship the first stage in the Habsburg monarchy was a forum for the discussion of central themes of social concern. He convincingly challenges views of nineteenth-century Austria as a hotbed of political and cultural reaction."

Norbert Bachleitner, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature, Universität Wien