It Begins with the theatre: Barrie Kosky’s workshop

We begin this chapter by considering what makes a production recognisably a Barrie Kosky production. We then frame Kosky’s work as transnational, not only in terms of bringing together influences and personnel from different national cultures on stage, but of throwing the nation into question and exposing the transnational within the national, off stage as well as on. We set this engagement with the transnational in the context of a dominant strand of German theatre history that saw theatre as a means of shaping the nation, and also within an often-overlooked strand of Australian theatre history. We then discuss the practical steps that the Komische Oper Berlin has taken under Kosky’s leadership to engage with multicultural Berlin, and the ways in which Kosky invites his audiences to continue to engage with the themes raised in his productions after the theatre event, whether through reflection and processing or practical action. We end with a description of the book’s structure and content.