Hacks, Peter (Breslau, 1928- ), studied in Munich and wrote his Ph.D thesis on the Biedermeier theatre. In the 1950s a follower of Brecht, he moved in 1955 to East Berlin where he continued to write a number of dialectical plays demolishing concepts of heroism, in Das Volksbuch vom Herzog Ernst oder Der Held und sein Gefolge (written 1953, see Herzog Ernst), of justice, in Der Müller von Sanssouci (written 1957), Prussian militarism, in the comedy Die Schlacht bei Lobositz (written 1954, based on the autobiography of U. Bräker), and domestic tragedy, by turning H. L. Wagner's Die Kindermörderin (1957 and 1963) into an anti-Aristotelian play. After this type of didactic theatre Hacks developed his own theories that proceeded from the evolutionary dialectics of Hegel and perceived socialism as the synthesis of the conflicting notions of revolution and stability. This view of dramatic art, perceived as the socialist classicism of the future (‘sozialistische Klassik’, in Versuch über das Theaterstück von morgen, 1960), was, because of its rejection of plays dealing with contemporary problems (Gegenwartsdrama), not easily reconcilable with official policy (see Sozialistischer Realismus), for although it distanced itself from classical idealism (despite the influence of Schiller), it insisted on an ongoing evolutionary process in which even positive achievements required the stimulus of a utopian vision: this, Hacks maintained, depended on the initiative of the individual, the prerequisite for his idea of greatness distinguishing great art. He compromised with this goal in his ‘Hi-storie’ Die Sorgen und die Macht (1958, final version 1960) and the comedy Moritz Tassow (written 1961), both of which combine contemporary political and economic concerns involving contradictions of the self-realization of the individual in the context of socialist philosophy. Hacks now turned in his plays, including creative adaptations, to historical and mythological motifs, beginning with Der Frieden (1962, based on Aristophanes); others include Die schöne Helena (1964), an operetta for actors, Amphitryon (1968, reviewing Plautus' burlesque and Kleist's Amphi-tryon), Omphale (1970, on the Lydian queen and Heracles), Adam und Eva (1973, proceeding from Hegel's conception of the Fall), and Senecas Tod (1978). The influence of Shakespeare and the English theatre on Hacks began with his stage version of Henry IV (1964) and his adaptation of John Gay's Polly (1965), and is again evident in the comedy Margarete in Aix (1969) which adapts 15th-c. historical records for the dialectical confrontation between the (utopian) sphere of art, represented by René I, and power politics, pursued by his daughter Margaret of Anjou, whose claim to the province is exposed as an anachronism; although René is a weak ruler, thus demonstrating the impotence of art in politics, his humanitarian spirit is absorbed by the progressive forces of history. After the adaptation of Goeth e's early Das Jahrmarktsfest zu Plundersweilern (1975), Hacks wrote the monodrama Ein Gespräch im Hause Stein über den abwesenden Herrn von Goethe (1976) in which Frau von Stein and Goethe are both in love, though not with one another; it is yet another variation on the prominent treatment of pleasure (Genuß) and love, conspicuous throughout the plays, in which the woman emerges as the more mature partner. Hacks also adapted Goethe's Pandora (1979). During the 1960s and 1970s, since when he has written very little, he was a controversial but prominent playwright of the East German state, where he attracted prominent producers and actors; he also made an impact in the West on account of his pointed style and the scope he offered producers (some distanced themselves from him after he supported his government's decision concerning the expulsion of W. Biermann). He has worked for the radio and contributed to childrens' literature. His poetry, Die Gedichte, appeared in 1988, his numerous essays and commentaries on his plays in Die Maßgaben der Kunst (1977) and Essais (1984); collections of his plays include 3 vols. of Ausgewählte Dramen (1972, 1976, 1981) and 2 vols. of Stücke nach Stücken (1965 and 1985). His honours include the Nationalpreis of the DDR (1977).
