Despite various differences in their internal organization, the majority of German theatres share a common profile. They are usually large-scale, publicly-controlled cultural institutions, with more than 80 percent of their budgets covered by public subsidies. Within these complexes, which can include opera and dance facilities, a relatively stable theatre company (artist contracts normally run from one to three years) strives to satisfy the demands of a predominantly subscription audience by mounting as many as fourteen productions a season in full repertory.

Such theatres confront their artistic staffs with a number of problems. The pressures created by the subscription system are the worst, but not the only ones. The manifold details concerned with administering such huge physical plants and executing the paperwork that comes with governmental subsidy are handled by a large, expensive bureaucracy with a vested interest in making sure the stamping-out of productions runs smoothly.