First published in 1981, Michael Patterson's was the first book in any language to be devoted to the work of Germany's leading theatre director. Peter Stein's thoughtful and critical approach to a variety of dramatic texts – from Irish comedy to German classics, where his reputation largely rests – has resulted in a range of different acting and formal styles and some major textual adaptations. The rehearsing, performance and reception of these are thoroughly and vividly recreated here from interviews and archives and in the first-hand account of the workings of the theatre Stein made his own, the Schaubühne in West Berlin. Patterson discusses the apparent contradictions between the Schaubühne's original ideals as a model of socialist theatre and its present situation as one of the most highly subsidizes stages in Western Europe. Many productions are illustrated by photographs and imaginative reconstructions of particular scenes.