25 September – 27 OctoberOpening the Staging Books of Leopold Jessner

18 September 2024

Photo: SUB Hamburg

Leopold Jessner was a leading theatre director of the Weimar Republic. ‘Die Temperamente des Theaters’, an UWA exhibition at the Hamburg State and University library, presents the staging books from his time at Hamburg’s Thalia Theatre for the first time.

With his abstract design of the stage space and his interventions in the literary texts, Jessner (1878–1945) was a pioneer of today’s ‘Regietheater’. Forced to emigrate in 1933, most of the material he produced as director of the Prussian State Theatre was lost in exile. This makes the written artefacts from his time as a young director and stage manager at the local Thalia Theater, where he worked from 1904 to 1915, all the more valuable. Despite their importance, however, these documents, which are preserved in the Hamburg Theatre Collection, have remained almost completely unnoticed until now.

In cooperation with Thalia Theater, the Cluster of Excellence ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’ (UWA) and the Hamburg State and University Library are now showing these written artefacts to the public for the first time. From 25 September to 27 October 2024, ‘“Die Temperamente des Theaters”: Leopold Jessner’s Staging Books from the Thalia Theater’ shows the director’s, stage manager’s, prompt and role books from Jessner’s productions in the context of contemporary working life at the theatre. These books not only offer a fascinating insight into the processes behind the scenes, but also open up new perspectives on the repertoire of the time and the emergence of directing as an independent artistic position. In addition, playsheets and postcards from the Thalia are on display. The exhibition also addresses the history of the theatre’s construction.

‘At the beginning of the 20th century, the Thalia Theatre was a theatre of comedy in which premieres were produced on an assembly line and the directors limited themselves to arranging. The dramas, most of which are forgotten today, deal with – and ridicule – pressing issues of the time such as the emancipation of women,’ says Martin Jörg Schäfer, Professor of Modern German Literature and Theatre Research at the University of Hamburg, who curated the exhibition together with Anna Sophie Felser. ‘It was Jessner who slowly introduced the dramas of literary modernism into the theatre repertoire. His stage books bear witness to the development of his own style, which moved away from the usual realism of depiction. Above all, however, they show how the figure of the director, later celebrated as an individual creator, is dependent on the precise synchronisation of numerous entities.’

On 24 September, 6:00 pm, we celebrate the opening of the exhibition with welcome addresses, an introductory talk by the curators, a guided tour of the exhibition, and a reception. Participation is free of charge. To register, please send an email to pr"AT"sub.uni-hamburg.de.

From 25 September, the exhibition is open daily until midnight and is barrier-free. Admission is free of charge. A catalogue of the exhibition will be available both in print in the exhibition room and online on this website.