Introduction: Dramaturgies of War

This introductory chapter addresses key critical terms as well as the book’s structure, which extends over three parts addressing ideological, infrastructural and aesthetic contexts of dramaturgical theory and practice. Building on seminal studies by Luckhurst (Dramaturgy: A revolution in theatre, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006) and Turner and Behrndt (Dramaturgy and performance, Palgrave, London, 2007) as well as responding to the recent institutional turn in Theatre and Performance Studies, the book features contributions that address dramaturgy as a politicised institutional practice leading up to, during and immediately after World War II.