12 This example was taken from Cartledge (1997), which contains many others related to tragedy.
It’s clear that Greek comedy offered as much if not more direct social commentary. For a helpful
analysis, see Henderson (1990).
13 Holland and Patterson (1995: 276).
14 See Plato’sApologyfor Socrates’description of his philosophical method; see Plato’sMenofor his
conversation with Anytus. Socrates’argument is that politicians, if they know how to act well,
would be able to teach others to do so; and they would undoubtedly make a priority of teaching
this valuable knowledge to their children; but the children of the best politicians are often foolish;
so obviously politicians don’t know how to teach what it is that they’re so good at; so they don’t
really know what they’re doing.
15 For Butler (1987), they were frequently highly critical of the king. See e.g. Butler (1987: 24, 44).
16 Cartledge (1997: 24).
17 This example is taken from Ziolkowski’s account of the 1889 premiere of Hauptmann’sVor
Sonnenaufgang, which depicted peasants living in squalor at a time when Socialist meetings were
banned by law. See Ziolkowski (2009: 38–48). In Ziolkowski’s view, Hauptmann did present
something of the reality of peasant life and ultimately had an effect on government policy.
18 Winkler (1990: 22); Halpern (2011: 545).
19 See Henderson (1990).
20 Wiles (1995: 56); Halpern (2011: 555).
21 Thomson (1995: 203).
22 Lennard and Luckhurst (2002: 86).
23 See e.g. Butler (1987: 35–42).
24 Wiles (1995: 56).
25 TheThree Sistersincident is described in Brown (1995: 522). See Elsom (1992: 78) for similar
accounts of unusual and prolonged applause for the death of Hastings at a performance of
Richard III in Soviet-era Poland. The anonymity provided by the darkness of the auditorium –
something, as we shall see, that bothered Brecht–may also be a factor here.
26 Kershaw (1992) pp. 1–2. It’s unlikely, of course, that Durov would have provided a‘text’in the
first place.
27 Elsom (1992: 81).
28 See Chapter 1. This goes some way to explaining the particular attention given to theatre by cen-
sors in various different regimes. For a helpful overview of theatre censorship, see Stephens (1995).
29 Also, note that male Athenian citizens were almost never represented as characters on stage,
even although they held all the power; so perhaps this isn’t a good measure. See Hall (1997) for
discussion.
30 Halpern (2011: 561).
31 Thomson (1995: 180).
32 My thanks to Gabriel Doctor for this example.
33 ‘Othello’causes stir in Johannesburg Theater’,Chicago Tribune, October 29, 1987. Lennard and
Luckhurst (2002: 211) go further, suggesting that the kiss may also have been illegal.
34 This influence is very much still with us. To take one anecdotal example: in a review of recently
published books on philosophy and theatre, I noted that, although they generally had very little in
common, all of the reviewed books included discussions of Brecht.
35 See e.g. Brecht (1964: 57, 60, 87). Brecht uses the term‘drama’broadly, and it’s clear that his
plays must count as‘dramas’under any usual understanding of that term; he certainly referred to
his work, on occasions, as‘epic drama’(1964: 45). But he also uses the adjective‘dramatic’as a
synonym for‘Aristotelian’in his particular sense–i.e. he wants to contrast his own‘epic’theatre
with traditional‘dramatic’theatre (1964: 37).
36 See Brecht (1964: 70, 77); see also Brecht (1980: 76–9). Brecht (1964) is collection of many of
Brecht’s most important theoretical writings. For convenience, I’ll refer to this edition where possible.
37 Brecht (1964: 97).
38 Brecht (1964: 87, 91).This is broadly what Woodruff terms‘fantasy identification’(2008: 176),
which he takes to be the key concern lying behind Brecht’s objections to empathy. The idea that
the spectator becomes Oedipus is still a popular view–see e.g. Nehamas (1992).
Collective action 191