Marius von Mayenburg's Der Stein: (Un)Covering Memory

Abstract

Marius von Mayenburg’s Der Stein:(Un)Covering Memory undertakes an in-depth examination of contemporary German playwright Marius von Mayenburg’s 2008 play Der Stein. The play explores how Germany’s National Socialist past continues to play a foundational role within the construction of German identity. However, memory of the past must be critically analyzed because of the fallibility of memory, illustrated in Der Stein. Der Stein is firmly entrenched in the postwar examination of concepts of guilt and responsibility, developed by philosophers such as Hannah Arendt and visible in German popular cultural discourse. Von Mayenburg is a part of a specific movement of German theatre practitioners who embrace a narrative-centered, individualistic, materialist-based theatre aesthetic. Past productions illustrate how this aesthetic lends itself to the complex examination of memory and history present in the structure, motif and themes of Der Stein. The critical reception of productions and the adaptation of the script in performance illustrate the complexity of the play’s structure and the potentiality of meaning within the play. This study proposes Der Stein as an exploration of contemporary theatre practice in Germany. It also investigates the changing relationship between German society and the country’s troubled past, in which the fallibility of memory plays a critical role.