The substance of this newly published chronology of European theater was taken with little change from the index volume of Manfred Brauneck’s six-volume standard work Die Welt als Bühne: Geschichte des europäischen Theaters [The World as Stage: A History of the European Theater] (Stuttgart, 1965).

The chronology was updated to include the years 600 BC to 2007, but the bibliography was not, and seems to be identical to that in volume 6 of the original work. The history is presented in two columns: the left-hand columns contain years for people and performances in the history of European theater, and the right-hand columns display important historical dates, international political events, and important developments in all aspects of theater studies. The chronological lists are comprehensive and factual, but the presentation does not offer context in the form of analytical essays or footnotes.

The bibliography covers the history of theater in general, the history of theater by country and period, and the history of related performance types such as ballet, pantomime, street theater, cabaret, revue, variété, and circus; theater for children is included, but not treated comprehensively. The two-page table of contents serves as the index to the volume; a more comprehensive alphabetical index would have been desirable.

The work is a useful reference work for the seasoned theater student, but a serious course of study would have to include the original six-volume set on European theater mentioned above. [hjb/hm]

Zwischen Bühne und Baracke: Lexikon der verfolgten Theater, Film und Musikkünstler 1933 bis 1945 [Between Stage and Prison Camp: A Dictionary of Persecuted Artists in Theater, Film, and Music, 1933 to 1945]. Kay Weniger. Berlin: Metropol Verlag, 2008. 447 p. ill. 24 cm. ISBN 978-3-938690-10-9: EUR 28 [08-1/2-216]

This biographical dictionary is a continuation of Kay Weniger’s eight-volume Das große Personenlexikon des Films (see RREA 8:159), whose subtitle includes: Actors, Directors, Camera Crews, Producers, Composers, Scriptwriters, Film Architects, Costume Designers, Cutters, Sound Technicians, Make-up Artists, and Special Effects Designers.

In his introduction to Bühne und Baracke, Weniger explains the scope of the dictionary by focusing on the many triggers for persecution in Nazi Germany and the German occupied zones: being Jewish or ethnically different, having alternative or critical political points of view, participating in protest actions, being the innocent victim of intrigue and lies, or simply having contact with any targeted individual. The dictionary contains 500 biographies of persecuted artists in theater, film, and music; the biographies for film artists that were already included in the 2001 volume referenced above are updated and expanded; the biographies of persecuted music and theater artists are new and original entries.

The dictionary is divided in three parts: (1) “Celebrated, Shunned, Murdered” provides two-page biographies; (2) “Shining a Light on Nazi Victims” covers mainly musicians and actors and includes a filmography for each film artist; (3) “In the Machinery of the Regime” is devoted to a more detailed curriculum vitae of selected persecuted artists. The volume concludes with an exhaustive list of sources and archives and a table of contents of artists contained in the three parts of the dictionary.

The dictionary does not include artists living and working in exile; it is not a comprehensive listing of all artists who suffered under the Nazi regime; and it does not provide an equal amount of information for artists in film, theater, and music. Its overall merit lies in bringing forth many names of up-to-now forgotten or neglected artists, including many who survived persecution and remained in Germany after World War II but were never able to restart their careers. The short but detailed life stories of artists who are not included in any other dictionary are an inspiring reminder of research to be done on this topic in the future.

In his preface to the dictionary Paul Spiegel, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, rightly praises Weniger’s research as a tool against forgetting. The volume should be a standard work of reference in any library. [wub/hm]

Filmregisseure: Biographien, Werkbeschreibungen, Filmographien [Film Directors: Biographies, Productions, Filmographies]. Ed. Thomas Koebner. 3d rev. and expanded ed. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2008. 860 p. ill. 22 cm. ISBN 978-3-15-010662-4: EUR 36.90 [08-1/2-221]