Mass Theatre in Inter-War Europe : Flanders and the Netherlands in an International Perspective

Ideological heterogeneity in mass plays in Flanders and the Netherlands.In many European countries mass theatre was a widespread expression of'community art' which became increasingly popular shortly before the FirstWorld War. From Max Reinhardt's lavish open-air spectacles to socialistworkers' Laienspiel (lay theatre), theatre visionaries focused on ever largergroups for entertainment as well as political agitation.Despite wide research on the Soviet and German cases, examples fromthe Low Countries have hardly been examined. However, mass plays inFlanders and the Netherlands had a distinctive character, displaying anideological heterogeneity not seen elsewhere. 'Mass Theatre in InterwarEurope' studies this peculiar phenomenon of the Low Countries in its Europeancontext and sheds light on the broader framework of mass movementsin the inter-war period.