reading an article on schiller in _die zeit_, i came across the word
strumpfhosendramatik and am at sea as to what that might mean

Dear hdlaun,

"Strumpfhose" means "tights", and "Dramatik" means "dramatic art". The
combinantion "Strumpfhosendramatik" is a neologism of the interviewed
person, director Andrea Breth, but it can be explained quite easily.
The term refers to the tights male actors sometimes wear as parts of
their costumes in conservative, traditional stagings of classic plays.
Such stagings are commonly considered overblown, fusty, dowdy and
boring - and that is also the impression many students get of those
plays as a result of uninspired handling of those works in school. In
the context of the article it means: Many young people avoid watching
Schiller's plays in the theatre because the way they had to learn
about it in school gave them the cliché impression of "typical"
classic plays - actors in tights, declaiming highfalutin lines in a
boring old drama.

I hope that explains it!
Regards,
Scriptor


Reference source:
Die Zeit: Ich kann von dem Burschen nicht lassen
http://www.zeit.de/2005/02/Interview_Breth

that explains it, yes, and thank you for that insight into the argot
on the bretter, die die welt bedeuten