This article discusses the Enlightenment concept of theatre as formulated in the work of the Viennese playwright Paul Weidmann, who was active in the reign of Joseph II (1765-90). In Weidmann’s conception, theatre has two main functions: one is to provide a theoretical basis (the idea of a national theatre; theatre as a school of moral educational); the second is to delineate a socio-historical context. The themes explored by Weidmann are civil war and wars of religion, and the question of how to level social differences - problems that still very much beset the modern world. In the face of current religious, political and economic conflicts, Weidmann’s stage plays still carry a powerful message., Joanna Giel., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy