Reconsidering National Plays in Europe

This volume frames the concept of a national play. By analysing a number of European case studies, it addresses the following question: Which play could be regarded as a country's national play, and how does it represent its national identity? The chapters provide an in-depth look at plays in eight different countries: Germany (*Die Räuber,* Friedrich Schiller), Switzerland (*Wilhelm Tell*, Friedrich Schiller), Hungary (*Bánk Bán*, József Katona), Sweden (*Gustav Vasa*, August Strindberg), Norway (*Peer Gynt,* Henrik Ibsen), the Netherlands (*The Good Hope*, Herman Heijermans), France (*Tartuffe*, Molière), and Ireland. This collection is especially relevant at a time of socio-political flux, when national identity and the future of the nation state is being reconsidered.