Homage to Hans-Thies Lehmann

Remembering the Origins of Postdramatic Theatre

Abstract

Upon his recent death, this article revisits the major contributions of Dr. Hans-Thies Lehmann to contemporary debates on theatre aesthetics. Lehmann’s concept of a postdramatic theatre—that is, a theatre that has moved beyond the central importance of dramatic texts—is surveyed some two decades after he made his primary interventions in the field. The article furthermore reviews Lehmann’s influence in the Anglophone discipline of theatre studies and in the global field of theatre production.