REVOLUTION OF THE STAGE 1700–1850

Gotthold Lessing – Dramaturgy begins

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing sits in a dimly lit box of the Hamburg National Theatre on a late September night in 1767, his pulse quickening with anticipation. On stage, the final act of his new comedy Minna von Barnhelm unfolds before a packed house. In the flicker of oil lamps, two characters – a proud Prussian officer and a spirited Saxon lady – stand before each other, their misunderstandings resolved, their hands about to join in betrothal. For a moment, silence holds the audience. Then a thunder of applause breaks out and spreads through the theatre like a joyful wave. Lessing lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He scans the crowd: he sees veteran soldiers wiping their eyes and merchants grinning broadly; he even spots a few French-speaking dignit ...