It is widely held that institutionalized censorship of theatre has declined, if not disappeared, in European democracies in the late twentieth century, epitomized by the Theatres Act 1968 in the UK and the post-1989 constitutional amendments in various Central and Eastern European nations. Anne Etienne and Chris Megson’s edited volume Theatre Censorship in Contemporary Europe challenges this assumption by arguing that censorship apparatus and practices have not disappeared but persisted by taking on different forms and dimensions: ‘Censorship has shed its visible, historical, state-controlled, physical identity to transform into a series of polymorphous phenomena that largely escape detection – and often controversy – because they elude definition’ (p. 2). As is extensively discussed in the individual chapters of the book, censorship has shifted from more traditional methods such as the removal of potentially sensitive material from texts due to political, religious or moral concerns to more indirect forms of intervention such as political–economic intimidation, blacklisting and (social-)media lynching of authors and directors, or budgetary cuts, repertory omissions, venue denials and public boycott campaigns targeting specific performances. As such, the book features as a fairly comprehensive study that delineates the covert forms of censorship (institutional or otherwise) targeting prevalent theatrical practices in various nations, including, but not limited to, Russia and Greece in Eastern Europe, Hungary and Slovenia in Central Europe and Spain and Ireland in Western Europe. Cogently captured by its subtitle, ‘Silence and Protest’, the book also delves into the various ways in which such censorial practices have been remonstrated by theatre-makers across Europe since the turn of the century, such as protest marches, appropriation of public spaces, social-media campaigns and issuing open letters to politicians.

Titled ‘Forms and Sources of Censorship’, the first part of the book incorporates one intervention and three chapters which discuss the use of theatrical/public performances as a means of protesting censorship against the backdrop of Maltese politics and the economic and cultural challenges faced by politically marginal artists and theatre companies in post-communist western Balkan states, Putin-led Russia and (Northern) Ireland respectively. The second part, ‘Ghosts of the Past’, features similar investigations of the political–economic and ethical controversies surrounding theatre (and, by extension, performing arts such as opera) and concomitant practices of (self-)censorship in contemporary Hungary, Slovenia, Poland and Germany, among others. Titled ‘Staging Taboos’, the third and the last part of the book broaches the problem of censorship in the context of racial, religious, sexual and identity politics. The respective chapters focus on the governmental and public marginalization of theatre groups associated with ethnic–political and religious minorities/non-conformists in the UK and Greece, ethics and identity politics surrounding bullfighting performances in Spain, and the potential functions of queer performances in subverting preconceived and socially encoded perceptions of queerness.

As is evidenced by this succinct account of its trajectory, Theatre Censorship in Contemporary Europe offers a comprehensive cross-national perspective on contemporary censorial mechanisms and practices in Europe. It also explores the extent to which such practices have been countered with protest (or lack thereof) by theatre-makers and performing artists, as well as the particular ways in which theatrical performances have been utilized as tools in those protests. The success and authenticity of the book lie in its context-specific analyses of a wide range of performance traditions from various European nations, by which it not only raises awareness about the more covert forms of censorship – which ‘encompass financial mechanisms as well as the conscious or unconscious phenomena of omission and marginalization … including threats of prosecution’ (p. 9) – but also exposes the social–cultural, political–economic and ethical–psychological subtleties and repercussions of such interventions. The individual chapters of the book present historically nuanced and analytically compelling accounts of the political and economic challenges posed to dramatists, directors, actors and theatre companies across Europe. They also provide ample insights into the potential methods of overcoming those challenges and transcending the limits of the cultural–political discourse perpetuating them.

All in all, distinguished by its distinctive pan-European scope (in terms of content and authorship), the book is a commendable contribution to the fields of theatre studies and cultural politics. It is recommended for all scholars and students of drama and theatre studies, theatre-makers and performing artists.