Since the 1920s, an endless flow of studies has analyzed the political systems of fascism, theseizure of power, the nature of the regimes, the atrocities committed, and, finally, the wars waged against other countries. However, much less attention has been paid to the strategies of persuasion employed by the regimes to win over the masses for their cause. Among these, fascist propaganda has traditionally been seen as the key means of influencing public opinion. Only recently has the "fascination with Fascism" become a topic of enquiry that has also formed the guiding interest of this volume: it offers, for the first time, a comparative analysis of the forms and functions of theater in countries governed by fascist or para-fascist regimes. By examining a wide spectrum of theatrical manifestations in a number of States with a varying degree of fascistization, these studies establish some of the similarities and differences between the theatrical cultures of several cultures in the interwar period.

Günter Berghaus received his Ph.D. in Theatre Studies and his Habilitation from the Free University of Berlin, he taught at the University of London and now holds a Readership in Theatre History and Performance Studies at the University of Bristol.

Chapter 1. Staging the Nations Rebirth: The Politics and Aesthetics of Performance in the Context of Fascist Studies
R. Griffin

Chapter 2. The Cultural Politics of Fascist Governments
R. Kühnl

Chapter 3. The Ritual Core of Fascist Theatre: An Anthropological Perspective
G. Berghaus

Chapter 4. The Theatre of Politics in Fascist Italy
E. Gentile

Chapter 5. The Organization, Fascistization and Management of Theatre in Italy, 1925-43
D. Thompson

Chapter 6. Theatre Politics of the Mussolini Regime and their Influence on Fascist Drama
P. Cavallo

Chapter 7. Mussolini's "Theatre of the Masses"
M. Verdone

Chapter 8. Censorship in Nazi Germany: The Influence of the Reich's Ministry of Propaganda on German Theatre and Drama, 1933-1945
B. Panse

Chapter 9. The Municipal Theatre in Frankfurt-on-the-Main: A Provincial Theatre under National Socialism
B. Schültke

Chapter 10. The Orchestration of the National Community: The Nuremburg Party Rallies of the NSDAP
H.-U. Thamer

Chapter 11. Theatre and Falangism at the Beginning of the Franco Regime
S. Wahnon

Chapter 12. Competing Together in Fascist Europe: Sport in Early Francoism
J. London

Chapter 13. Jacques Copeau and "Popular Theatre" in Vichy France
S. Added

Chapter 14. Towards an Aesthetics of Fascist Opera
E. Levi

Bibliography
Illustrations
Index