Note: In what follows, AdK is used as an abbreviation for unpublished material from the archives of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, including the Schriftensammlung Darstellende Kunst (hereinafter Schriften-DK), Sammlung Theater in der Wende (TiW), and Friedrich-Dieckmann-Archiv. All translations from German are mine.

1. Frank Castorf, Farewell Address (“Frank Castorfs Rede”), Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin, 1 July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2TJ701AmEU&t=26s, accessed 1 December 2017.

2. There has been surprisingly little sustained engagement with Castorf and his Volksbühne project written in English, with two important exceptions: Carlson, Marvin, Theatre Is More Beautiful Than War: German Stage Directing in the Late Twentieth Century (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2009)Google Scholar; and Cornish, Matt, Performing Unification: History and Nation in Germany after 1989 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2017)Google Scholar.

3. Berlin's first unified elections in December 1990 marked a definitive shift in the city's program of urban governance. On 2 December, the “conservative” Christian Democrats (CDU) won the election with 40 percent of the vote, followed closely by the “centrist” Social Democrats (SPD), who garnered 30 percent. The two winning parties quickly formed a Grand Coalition (Große Koalition)—under the leadership of Mayor Eberhard Diepgen—which would govern Berlin for the next decade. The political priorities that united the Grand Coalition were clear and explicit: to respond to the challenges of reunification by transforming Berlin into a European—or even better, a globally competitive—post-Fordist metropolis. As sociologist and urban planner Claire Colomb explains: “The new mayor of Berlin explicitly advocated the shift to a new entrepreneurial urban politics, which would prioritize the attraction of external capital, investors and labour force to the city… . This was accompanied by a discourse on the necessity and ineluctability of the so-called process of ‘metropolization’ or ‘catching up modernization,’ … i.e. the conversion from an industrial city to a service metropolis of global status.” This shift toward an explicitly entrepreneurial agenda was immediately evident in the Wild West economic policies and accompanying real-estate building boom actively promoted by the Grand Coalition from its very first days in office. An intricate system of new laws, direct subsides, and tax incentives to benefit developers and real-estate (and other) companies was quickly put into place to stimulate a process of rapid urban development. See Colomb, Claire, Staging the New Berlin: Place Marketing and the Politics of Urban Reinvention Post-1989 (New York: Routledge, 2012), 90Google Scholar.

4. See, for example: Fischer-Lichte, Erika, “Zur Einleitung,” in Transformationen: Theater der neunziger Jahre, ed. Fischer-Lichte, Erika, Kolesch, Doris, and Weiler, Christel (Berlin: Theater der Zeit, 1999), 7–12Google Scholar; Hughes, David Ashley, “Notes on the German Theatre Crisis,” TDR: The Drama Review 51.4 (2007): 133–55Google Scholar; Zolchow, Sabine, “The Island of Berlin,” trans. Blum, Rebeccah and Hyatt, Millay, in Theatre in the Berlin Republic: German Drama since Reunification, ed. Varney, Denise (Berlin: Peter Lang, 2008): 55–80Google Scholar. For other detailed narratives about the German theatre landscape after the fall of the Wall, see Weber, Carl, “German Theatre: Between the Past and the Future,” Performing Arts Journal 13.1 (1991): 43–59Google Scholar; Schölling, Traute and Silberman, Marc, “On with the Show? The Transition to Post-Socialist Theatre in Eastern Germany,” Theatre Journal 45.1 (1993): 21–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Weber, Carl, “Crossing the Footbridge Again; or, A Semi-Sentimental Journey,” Theatre Journal 45.1 (1993): 75–89Google Scholar; Weber, Carl, “Periods of Precarious Adjustment: Some Notes on the Theater's Situation at the Beginning and after the End of the Socialist German State,” Contemporary Theatre Review 4.2 (1995): 23–36Google Scholar; and Salter, Chris, “Forgetting, Erasure, and the Cry of the Billy Goat: Berlin Theatre Five Years After,” Performing Arts Journal 18.1 (1996): 18–28Google Scholar.

5. Castorf quoted in “Dann gibt es Krieg: Der Regisseur und Intendant Frank Castorf über Die Berliner Theater-Krise,” Der Spiegel, 28 June 1993.

6. The Berliner Ensemble—established by Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel in 1949—is another paradigmatic site to explore these questions. The “permanent crisis at the BE” is fodder for another essay entirely, as are the ways that, just before his death, Heiner Müller began to explore what a new version of “Ost-” or “East-Theater” could still mean for, and still do at, Brecht and Weigel's Ensemble in reunified Berlin.

7. Swiss-born Besson left the Volksbühne after his proposed program for the 1977–8 season was rejected by the East Berlin city government three times. He took a number of prominent actors and directors with him.

8. Carlson, Marvin, “Frank Castorf and the Volksbühne: Berlin's Theatre of Deconstruction,” in Contemporary European Directors, ed. Rebellato, Dan and Delgado, Maria M. (London: Routledge, 2009), 103–23Google Scholar, at 108.

9. Ibid.

10. The Freie Volksbühne was closed in 1991 and the three-stage Schiller Theater Complex in 1993.

11. Nagel, Ivan, “Zur Zukunft der Berliner Theater: Gutachten an den Senat von Berlin,” in Streitschriften: Politik, Kulturpolitik, Theaterpolitik 1957–2001 (Berlin: Siedler, 2001): 127–36Google Scholar. Earlier unpublished versions of these “Considerations” can be found in AdK, TiW 1755 and AdK Dieckmann, Friedrich 304.

12. Ibid., 135.

13. Schütt, Hans-Dieter, Hehmeyer, Kirsten, and Kämper, Andreas, Castorfs Volksbühne: Schöne Bilder vom hässlichen Leben (Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 1999), 30Google Scholar.

14. Georg Diez, “Eine Liebesgeschichte: Frank Castorf, Berlin, Deutschland—Eine Frage der Ära,” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 16 June 2002.

15. Ibid.

16. Schütt et al., 30.

17. Castorf had developed quite a reputation as a political nuisance in the GDR, where his early productions attracted the ire (and sometimes censorship) of party officials. In 1984, for instance, during his tenure as artistic director of the theater in the small East German city of Anklam, his production of Brecht's Drums in the Night was shut down by the local authorities shortly before its premiere. After the fall of the Wall, Castorf became even more well-known as a freelance director, working more and more often in Berlin. His 1990 production of Schiller's The Robbers at the Volksbühne was considered an important “prototype of the new German theater of provocation” in the wake of reunification. In 1990–1, he was invited to work as in-house director at Berlin's Deutsches Theater, where his production of Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman received an invitation to the Theatertreffen festival as one of the top ten theater productions in Germany that season.

18. Siegfried Wilzopolski, “Famous or Dead? The Volksbühne Theater under Frank Castorf”; lecture presented at Why Theater? Choices for a New Century: An International Conference and Theatre Festival, University of Toronto, 1–4 November 1995) [AdK Schriften-DK 152].

19. Katya Bargna, “‘Die Sache Castorf’: All Quiet on the Eastern Front” (M.A. thesis, University of Liverpool, 1995), 21 [AdK Schriften-DK 152].

20. Schütt et al., 28.

21. Ibid.

22. Schütt, Hans-Dieter and Castorf, Frank, Die Erotik des Verrats: Gespräche mit Frank Castorf (Berlin: Dietz, 1996): 10Google Scholar.

23. Schütt et al., 29.

24. Ibid., 11.

25. Ibid., 29.

26. Irmer, ThomasinIrmer, Thomas et al. ., Zehn Jahre Volksbühne—Intendanz Frank Castorf (Berlin: Theater der Zeit, 2003): 45–6Google Scholar.

27. Matthias Lilienthal in ibid., 37.

28. The discourse on Ostalgie (East nostalgia) is expansive. For a start, including expansive bibliographies, see Scribner, Charity, Requiem for Communism (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and “From Stasiland to Ostalgie: The GDR Twenty Years After,” ed. Karen Leeder, special issue, Oxford German Studies 38.3 (2009).

29. Castorf quoted in Schütt and Castorf, 26.

30. Castorf quoted in Rolf Michaelis, “Oberlehrer überall,” Die Zeit, 13 January 1995.

31. Castorf quoted in Katja Burghardt, “‘Dann kommt der Amazonas’: Wie macht man aus einem Fahrrad in der Fahrt ein Flugzeug?,” Szene Hamburg, June 1994, 32–3, at 32.

32. Castorf quoted in “Mit Frank Castorf sprach Frank Raddatz,” Theater der Zeit, August–September 1993, 19–24, at 20.

33. Castorf quoted in Ibid.

34. Castorf quoted in Ibid.

35. Frank Castorf, “Klassiker,” in Prärie: Ein Benutzerhandbuch (Program for Im Dickicht der Städte by Bertolt Brecht), ed. Jutta Wangemann (Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, February 2006), 18–19.

36. Castorf quoted in Burghardt, 32. My italics.

37. Castorf quoted in Schütt and Castorf, 19.

38. Castorf quoted in Michaelis.

39. Schütt et al., 11.

40. Lilienthal in ibid., 36.

41. Ibid., 31.

42. Schütt and Castorf, 10.

43. The wheel was designed by Bert Neumann for the production of Schiller's The Robbers that Castorf directed at the Volksbühne in 1990. It was meant to evoke a secret language of tricksters and thieves, and Castorf and his team immediately adopted the wheel as the Volksbühne's official insignia when they assumed leadership in 1992. The large iron sculpture was created by Rainer Haußmann and installed in 1994. Amid great controversy, and in protest against Chris Dercon, the wheel out front and the “OST” on the roof were removed at the end of the 2017 season (see Fig. 2).

44. Chris Dercon, “‘Ich habe mich noch nie so unfrei gefühlt wie in Berlin,’” Zeit Online, 17 May 2017, www.zeit.de/2017/21/chris-dercon-berlin-volksbuehne-intendant, accessed 20 December 2017.

45. Volksbühne Berlin, “About,” www.volksbuehne.berlin/en/haus/529/about, accessed 20 December 2017.

46. Castorf quoted in “Ach, zu sehr möchte ich mich nicht ändern,” Der Freitag, 2 August 1991.

47. Castorf quoted in “Feudale Krawallbude,” Theater-Rundschau, October 1993, 5.

48. Frank Castorf, “Theater ist eine alte Widerstandsinsel,” Berliner Zeitung, 16 July 1993.

49. Castorf quoted in “Mit Frank Castorf sprach Frank Raddatz,” 22–3.

50. Castorf quoted in “Feudale Krawallbude,” 5.

51. Castorf quoted in Schütt and Castorf, 36.

52. Castorf, “Klassiker,” in Prärie, 31. My italics.

53. Castorf quoted in “Feudale Krawallbude,” 5.

54. The phrase (“schwerfällige Apparate”) is Brecht's: Bertolt Brecht, Werke: Große Kommentierte Berliner und Frankfurter Ausgabe [GBFA], ed. Werner Hecht et al., 30 vols. (Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag and Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1988–2000), 21: 126. Per my searching, this coinage from 1926 is Brecht's first use of “apparatus,” a word that subsequently became very important to him. Elsewhere, I am at work on an analysis of Castorf's own engagement with Brecht's understanding of the theater apparatus and his influential notion of Umfunktionierung—“refunctioning” or “functional transformation.”

55. Over the past few decades, a new spirit of aesthetic and infrastructural tendencies has emerged, which, in denomination at least, set themselves outside of Germany's long-standing state-stage system. This freie Szene, or “free-scene,” is made up of a loose and highly heterogeneous grouping of “independently” producing artists and ensembles, and independently operated, interdisciplinary institutions. As a realm of both artistic labor and administration, Berlin's free-scene occupies a tenuous position. On the one hand, more and more of the artists and ensembles that self-identify as members of this “scene” play central roles in Berlin's rich and diverse web of artistic activity. On the other, the free-scene, in many ways exemplifies the precarious tendencies of the performing arts within a globalized economy: tending more and more often, for instance, toward immaterial, insecure, freelance, project-based work. Elsewhere, I am at work on a sustained analysis of the relations (and ongoing debates) between state-stage and “free-scene” institutions in Berlin.

56. Castorf quoted in von Becker, Peter and Merschmeier, Michael, “‘Ich möchte nicht in den Untergrund!’ Theater Heute-Gespräch mit dem Ostberliner Regisseur Frank Castorf,” Theater Heute 12 (1989): 18–27Google Scholar, at 23.

57. Castorf quoted in Balitzki, Jürgen and Castorf, Frank, Castorf, der Eisenhändler: Theater zwischen Kartoffelsalat und Stahlgewitter (Berlin: Links, 1995)Google Scholar, 78.

58. Frank Castorf, “Ich komme aus dem Fußball, dem Rock ’n’ Roll, dem rausgebrüllten Unmut, aus der Neurose,” Theater Heute Jahrbuch (1993): 97–8, at 98.

59. Wilzopolski [AdK Schriften-DK 152].

60. Castorf quoted in “Mit Frank Castorf sprach Frank Raddatz,” 22–3.

61. Castorf quoted in “Die Polarisierung von Chaos,” Berliner Zeitung, 10 February 1992.

62. Castorf quoted in ibid.

63. Castorf quoted in “Zadek und Ich haben uns nichts zu Sagen,” Berliner Zeitung, 15–16 June 1996.

64. Castorf quoted in “Die Polarisierung von Chaos.”

65. Goethe-Institut, “Frank Castorf,” www.goethe.de/kue/the/reg/reg/ag/cas/enindex.htm, accessed 20 December 2017.

66. Ibid.

67. Simon Strauss, “Castorf und Kennedy in Berlin: Zwei Zwiespaltspiele,” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 4 December 2017, www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buehne-und-konzert/premieren-von-castorf-und-kennedy-in-berlin-15322750.html, accessed 20 December 2017.

68. Castorf quoted in Wilzopolski [AdK Schriften-DK 152].

69. Castorf quoted in “Wir sind Asozial,” Der Spiegel, 27 December 1993, 150–3, at 152.

70. Castorf quoted in “Paar Sicherungen können da schon durchknallen,” Neues Deutschland, 19–20 March 1994.

71. Castorf quoted in “Die Volksbühne als unmoralische Anstalt,” Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 9 December 1997.

72. Castorf quoted in “Mit Frank Castorf sprach Frank Raddatz,” 20.

73. Castorf quoted in “Wir sind Asozial,” 153.

74. Lilienthal quoted in Bargna, 25 [AdK Schriften-DK 152].

75. Castorf, “Klassiker,” in Prärie, 32. See also Joseph, Miranda, Against the Romance of Community (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002)Google Scholar.

76. Castorf quoted in “Mit Frank Castorf sprach Frank Raddatz,” 23.

77. Castorf quoted in Ibid.

78. Castorf, “Theater ist eine alte Widerstandsinsel.”

79. Castorf quoted in Wilzopolski [AdK Schriften-DK 152].

80. Castorf quoted in “Von Kohl lernen heißt Siegen lernen,” Der Tagesspiegel, 8 January 1993.

81. Castorf quoted in Becker and Merschmeier, 21. My italics.

82. Castorf quoted in Schütt and Castorf, 110–11.

83. Castorf quoted in Becker and Merschmeier, 21.

84. Castorf quoted in Wilzopolski [AdK Schriften-DK 152]. My italics.

85. Castorf, “Klassiker,” in Prärie, 31.

86. Castorf quoted in “Ich hasse Verstellungskünstler,” Die Zeit, 12 July 2001.

87. Castorf quoted in Becker and Merschmeier, 20.

88. Castorf paraphrased inDetje, Robin, Castorf: Provokation aus Prinzip (Berlin: Henschel, 2002), 188Google Scholar.

89. Castorf quoted in “Berühmt oder tot,” Manager Magazin, October 1992.