This is the first cultural exploration of playwriting, directing, acting, and theater architecture in fin-de-siegrave;cle Munich. Peter Jelavich examines the commercial, political, and cultural tensions that fostered modernism's artistic revolt against the classical and realistic modes of nineteenth-century drama.

Ranging from the earliest drama to the theater of the 1980's this encyclopedia includes coverage of national drama and theater around the world, theater companies, and musical comedy. Arrangement of the 1,300 entries is alphabetically by name or subject with nearly 950 of these devoted to individual playwrights and their works.

500 entries from more than 100 contributors, profiling gay and lesbians throughout history, ranging from Sappho to Andre Gide; most entries are accompanied by a bibliography.

The theme of the split self -- defined as a division of personality between an emancipated adult incapable of love and a child still endowed with this basic capacity but oppressed by the father figure -- is analyzed in a series of works of German literature.