This collection of essays covers the related areas of aesthetics and politics, both in the field of theatre and in everyday life. Each contributor seeks to illustrate how drama subverts the foundations of the accepted models of perception and how it mediates on its own conventions.

Drama explores the tensions between the real and the ideal, between the desires of men and the laws of the gods, between individual freedom and repressive systems. Breaking the rules is a vocation equally shared by the tragic hero an the comic spirit. Challenging established values, questioning ready-made assumptions and subverting representational codes is the purpose of art.
The essays collected in this special issue of Contemporary Theatre Review cover the related areas of aesthetics and politics, both on the stage of the world and in the world of the stage. Each contributor illustrates how drama subverts the foundations of accepted models of perception and how it mediates on its own conventions. Contributors include Nicole Boireau & Wolfgang Lippke, Margaretta D'Arcy & John Arden, MaryBeth Inverso, John Elsom, Georges Bas, Ruth Freifrau von Ledebur, Christine Dymkowski, Monique Prunet, Christa Velten, Nicole Vigouroux-Frey and Albert-Rainer Glaap.