Using extensive and untapped archival material as well as a series of in-depth interviews with Fassbinder's main theatre associates, this book offers commentary on and insights into Fassbinder's plays, his dramaturgies and staging practice. David Barnett helps to unlock the much-discussed theatricality of Fassbinder's films by showing its many concrete sources. As the first study of Fassbinder's work in the theatre, as a playwright and director, this book presents full contextualization of his work within the upheavals of its times. Readers are introduced to the cultural history of the West...