Bertolt Brecht (help·info) (born Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (help·info); February 10, 1898–August 14, 1956) was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director. Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead Year 1898 ( MDCCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Augsburg is an independent City in the south-west of Bavaria. The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990 The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction Non-Aristotelian drama, or the 'epic form' of the Drama, refers to a kind of play whose dramaturgical structure departs from the features of classical Dialectical theatre is a label that the German Modernist Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht came to prefer to Epic Theatre The Threepenny Opera ( Die Dreigroschenoper) is a revolutionary work of Musical theatre, by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Helene Weigel ( 12 May 1900 in Vienna &ndash 6 May 1971 in Berlin) was one of the outstanding Actors of her Stefan Brecht (born 1924 is a Poet, critic and scholar of Theater. Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882, Munich - 9 February Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator ( 17 December, 1893 in Greifenstein -Ulm – 30 March, 1966) was a German Theatre Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold (Всеволод Эмильевич Мейерхольд born Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold ( &mdash 2 February 1940 ? was a Dario Fo (born March 24, 1926) is an Italian satirist, Playwright, Theater director, Actor, and Composer Augusto Boal (born April 16, 1931 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is an innovative and influential theatrical director, Writer Joan Maud Littlewood ( 6 October, 1914 - 20 September, 2002) was a British theatrical director famous for her work in developing the left-wing Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE (born 21 March 1925) is a British theatre and Film director and innovator Peter Ulrich Weiss ( November 8, 1916 – May 10, 1982) was a German Writer, painter, and Artist Heiner Müller ( January 9, 1929 &ndash December 30, 1995) was a (formerly East) German Dramatist, Poet Philippine "Pina" Bausch (born July 27, 1940 in Solingen, Germany) is a Modern dance choreographer and a leading Tony Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an award-winning American playwright most famous for his play Angels in America, for which Caryl Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is an English Dramatist known for her use of non- naturalistic techniques and Feminist Joseph Losey ( January 14, 1909 in La Crosse Wisconsin – June 22, 1984 in Jean-Luc Godard (French ʒɑ̃lyk gɔˈdaʀ (born on December 3 1930 is a French and Swiss Filmmaker and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague Lindsay Gordon Anderson ( April 17 1923 — August 30 1994) was an Indian born English Feature film, Theatre Rainer Werner Fassbinder (May 31 1945 &ndash June 10 1982 was a German Film director, Screenwriter and Actor. Ritwik Ghatak (ঋত্বিক (কুমার ঘটক Rittik (Kumar Ghôţok) ( November 4 1925 February 6 1976) was a Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish Film director and Screenwriter. Jan Bucquoy (b November 16, 1945) is an Anarchist and author-filmmaker born in Harelbeke, Belgium who started as a theatre practitioner Hal Hartley (b November 3 1959, Lindenhurst New York) is an American film director writer and pioneer of the Independent film Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958 Leith, Edinburgh) is a contemporary Scottish novelist, best known for his novel Trainspotting Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead Year 1898 ( MDCCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or Drama. A theatre director or stage director is a practitioner in the Theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production (a play, An influential theatre practitioner of the twentieth century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble—the post-war theatre company operated by Brecht and his wife and long-time collaborator, the actress Helene Weigel—with its internationally acclaimed productions. Theatre practitioner is a modern term to describe someone who both creates theatrical Performances and who produces a theoretical Discourse that Dramaturgy is the art of Dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage Overview The Berliner Ensemble is a German Theatre company established by Playwright, Bertolt Brecht and his wife Helene Weigel ( 12 May 1900 in Vienna &ndash 6 May 1971 in Berlin) was one of the outstanding Actors of her

From his late twenties Brecht remained a life-long committed Marxist who, in developing the combined theory and practice of his 'epic theatre', synthesized and extended the experiments of Erwin Piscator and Vsevolod Meyerhold to explore the theatre as a forum for political ideas and the creation of a critical aesthetics of dialectical materialism. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator ( 17 December, 1893 in Greifenstein -Ulm – 30 March, 1966) was a German Theatre Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold (Всеволод Эмильевич Мейерхольд born Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold ( &mdash 2 February 1940 ? was a Marxist aesthetics is a theory of Aesthetics based on or derived from the theories of Karl Marx. Dialectical materialism, according to many followers of Karl Marx 's thinking is the philosophical basis of Marxism. Brecht's modernist concern with drama-as-a-medium led to his refinement of the 'epic form' of the drama (which constitutes that medium's rendering of 'autonomization' or the 'non-organic work of art'—related in kind to the strategy of divergent chapters in James Joyce's novel Ulysses, to Sergei Eisenstein's evolution of a constructivist 'montage' in the cinema, and to Picasso's introduction of cubist 'collage' in the visual arts). Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Medium specificity is a principle in Aesthetics and Art criticism that developed during the period in Art history called Modernism. Non-Aristotelian drama, or the 'epic form' of the Drama, refers to a kind of play whose dramaturgical structure departs from the features of classical Organic describes forms methods and patterns found in living systems such as the organisation of cells, to Populations communities, and Ecosystems James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Ulysses is a novel by James Joyce, first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920 Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн January 23, 1898 &ndash February 11, 1948) was Constructivism was an Artistic and architectural movement in Russia from 1919 onward which rejected the idea of " Art for art's sake " Soviet montage theory is an approach to understanding and creating cinema that relies heavily upon editing ( montage is French for "putting together" Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso (October 25 1881 &ndash April 8 1973 Cubism was a 20th century Avant-garde Art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European A collage (From the coller to glue is a work of formal art primarily in the Visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms thus creating a new whole The visual arts are art forms that focus on the creation of works which are primarily Visual in nature such as Painting, Photography ^[1]

In contrast to many other avant-garde approaches, however, Brecht had no desire to destroy art as an institution; rather, he hoped to 're-function' the apparatus of theatrical production to a new social use. Avant-garde (avɑ̃gaʁd in French) means "advance guard" or "vanguard ' Refunctioning' is a core strategy of the aesthetic developed by the German modernist Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. In this regard he was a vital participant in the aesthetic debates of his era—particularly over the 'high art/popular culture' dichotomy—vying with the likes of Adorno, Lukács, Bloch, and developing a close friendship with Benjamin. High culture is a term now used in a number of different ways in Academic discourse whose most common meaning is the set of cultural products mainly in the Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno ( September 11, 1903 &ndash August 6, 1969) was a German -born international sociologist György Lukács (pronounced in IPA dyɶrdyə ˈlukɑtʃ) ( April 13, 1885 – June 4, 1971) was a Hungarian Ernst Simon Bloch (ɛʁnst ˈziːmɔn blɔx July 8, 1885 &ndash August 4, 1977) was a German Marxist philosopher Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( July 15, 1892 &ndash September 27, 1940) was a German - Jewish Marxist Brechtian theatre articulated popular themes and forms with avant-garde formal experimentation to create a modernist realism that stood in sharp contrast both to its psychological and socialist varieties. Realism was a general movement in the late nineteenth century that steered theatrical texts and performances toward greater fidelity to real life Socialist realism is a teleologically -oriented style of realistic art which has as its purpose the furtherance of the goals of Socialism and Communism "Brecht's work is the most important and original in European drama since Ibsen and Strindberg," Raymond Williams argues, while Peter Bürger insists that he is "the most important materialist writer of our time. "Ibsen" redirects here For other people named Ibsen see Ibsen (disambiguation. ( January 22, 1849  &ndash May 14, 1912) was a Swedish Writer, Playwright, and painter. Raymond Henry Williams ( 31 August 1921 &ndash 26 January 1988) was a Welsh academic Novelist and Critic. Avant-garde (avɑ̃gaʁd in French) means "advance guard" or "vanguard The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. " ^[2]

As Jameson among others has stressed, "Brecht is also ‘Brecht’"—collective and collaborative working methods were inherent to his approach. Fredric Jameson (born April 14, 1934) is an American literary critic and Marxist political theorist. Collaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together toward an intersection of common goals — for example an intellectual This 'Brecht' was a collective subject that "certainly seemed to have a distinctive style (the one we now call 'Brechtian') but was no longer personal in the bourgeois or individualistic sense. " During the course of his career, Brecht sustained many long-lasting creative relationships with other writers, composers, scenographers, directors, dramaturgs and actors; the list includes: Elisabeth Hauptmann, Margarete Steffin, Ruth Berlau, Slatan Dudow, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau, Caspar Neher, Teo Otto, Karl von Appen, Ernst Busch, Lotte Lenya, Peter Lorre, Therese Giehse, Angelika Hurwicz, and Helene Weigel herself. Elisabeth Hauptmann ( June 20 1897 in Peckelsheim, Westphalia – April 20 1973 in East Berlin) was a German Slatan Theodor Dudow (Златан Дудов Zlatan Dudov) ( January 30, 1903 - July 12, 1963) was a Bulgarian born Film director WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Kurt Julian Weill ( March 2, 1900 &ndash April 3, Hanns Eisler ( July 6, 1898 &ndash September 6, 1962) was a German and Austrian Composer. Paul Dessau ( 19 December, 1894 Hamburg, Germany - 28 June 1979 in Königs Wusterhausen, Germany Caspar Neher (born Rudolf Ludwig Caspar Neher 11 April 1897 in Augsburg; died 30 June 1962 in Wien) was a Austrian Ernst Busch may refer to Ernst Busch (military (1885-1945 German field marshal Ernst Busch (actor (1900-1980 German singer and actor Lotte Lenya ( October 18, 1898 &ndash November 27, 1981) was an Austrian Singer and Actress. Peter Lorre ( June 26 1904 &ndash March 23 1964) born László Löwenstein, was a Hungarian - Austrian Therese Giehse (born Therese Gift 6 March 1898 – 3 March 1975 was a German actress Helene Weigel ( 12 May 1900 in Vienna &ndash 6 May 1971 in Berlin) was one of the outstanding Actors of her This is "theatre as collective experiment [. . . ] as something radically different from theatre as expression or as experience. "^[3]

There are few areas of modern theatrical culture that have not felt the impact or influence of Brecht's ideas and practices; dramatists and directors in whom one may trace a clear Brechtian legacy include: Dario Fo, Augusto Boal, Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook, Peter Weiss, Heiner Müller, Pina Bausch, Tony Kushner and Caryl Churchill. Dario Fo (born March 24, 1926) is an Italian satirist, Playwright, Theater director, Actor, and Composer Augusto Boal (born April 16, 1931 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is an innovative and influential theatrical director, Writer Joan Maud Littlewood ( 6 October, 1914 - 20 September, 2002) was a British theatrical director famous for her work in developing the left-wing Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE (born 21 March 1925) is a British theatre and Film director and innovator Peter Ulrich Weiss ( November 8, 1916 – May 10, 1982) was a German Writer, painter, and Artist Heiner Müller ( January 9, 1929 &ndash December 30, 1995) was a (formerly East) German Dramatist, Poet Philippine "Pina" Bausch (born July 27, 1940 in Solingen, Germany) is a Modern dance choreographer and a leading Tony Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an award-winning American playwright most famous for his play Angels in America, for which Caryl Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is an English Dramatist known for her use of non- naturalistic techniques and Feminist In addition to the theatre, Brechtian theories and techniques have exerted considerable sway over certain strands of film theory and cinematic practice; Brecht's influence may be detected in the films of Joseph Losey, Jean-Luc Godard, Lindsay Anderson, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Oshima, Ritwik Ghatak, Lars von Trier, Jan Bucquoy ^[4] and Hal Hartley. Joseph Losey ( January 14, 1909 in La Crosse Wisconsin – June 22, 1984 in Jean-Luc Godard (French ʒɑ̃lyk gɔˈdaʀ (born on December 3 1930 is a French and Swiss Filmmaker and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague Lindsay Gordon Anderson ( April 17 1923 — August 30 1994) was an Indian born English Feature film, Theatre Rainer Werner Fassbinder (May 31 1945 &ndash June 10 1982 was a German Film director, Screenwriter and Actor. Ritwik Ghatak (ঋত্বিক (কুমার ঘটক Rittik (Kumar Ghôţok) ( November 4 1925 February 6 1976) was a Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish Film director and Screenwriter. Jan Bucquoy (b November 16, 1945) is an Anarchist and author-filmmaker born in Harelbeke, Belgium who started as a theatre practitioner Hal Hartley (b November 3 1959, Lindenhurst New York) is an American film director writer and pioneer of the Independent film

Life and career

Bavaria (1898–1924)

Bertolt Brecht, pretending to play the clarinet with the cabaret-clown Karl Valentin (playing the tuba) and Valentin's performing partner, Liesl Karlstadt (in drag as the conductor) in a comic spoof of the Munich Octoberfest, the "Schaubude" or sideshow booth, entitled Oktoberfestschaubude (ca 1920-1921). Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882, Munich - 9 February Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. The Oktoberfest is a sixteen-day festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany during late September (and running to early October In America a sideshow is an extra secondary production associated with a circus, carnival fair or other such attraction The photo shows the satirical banners for various circus-like attractions, all intended as a spoof of the popular annual Octoberfest in southern Germany. The Oktoberfest is a sixteen-day festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany during late September (and running to early October Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Brecht was born in Augsburg, Bavaria (about fifty miles North-west of Munich) to a conventionally-devout Protestant mother and a Catholic father (who had been persuaded to a Protestant wedding). Augsburg is an independent City in the south-west of Bavaria. Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. His father worked for a paper mill, becoming its managing director in 1914. ^[5] Thanks to his mother's influence, Brecht knew his Bible, a familiarity that would impact on his writing throughout his life. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin From her, too, came the "dangerous image of the self-denying woman" that recurs in his drama. ^[6] Brecht's home life was comfortably middle class, despite what his occasional attempt to claim peasant origins implied. ^[7] From 1904-1908, Brecht attended Volksschule for elementary school and from 1908-1917, Königlich-Bayerisches Realgymnasium. At school in Augsburg he met Caspar Neher, with whom he formed a life-long creative partnership, Neher designing many of the sets for Brecht's dramas and helping to forge the distinctive visual iconography of their epic theatre. Caspar Neher (born Rudolf Ludwig Caspar Neher 11 April 1897 in Augsburg; died 30 June 1962 in Wien) was a Austrian Scenic design (also known as stage design, set design or production design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as Film or Iconography is the branch of Art history which studies the identification description and the interpretation of the content of images At sixteen, the first World War broke out; initially enthusiastic, Brecht soon changed his mind on seeing his classmates "swallowed by the army". World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All ^[5] On his father's recommendation, Brecht sought a loophole by registering for an additional medical course at Munich University, where he enrolled in 1917. The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München also known as LMU, is a University in Munich and with more Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year ^[8] There he studied drama with Artur Kutscher, who inspired in the young Brecht an admiration for the iconoclastic dramatist and cabaret-star Wedekind. Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring Comedy, Song, Dance, and Theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue &mdash a Restaurant Benjamin Franklin Wedekind ( Hannover July 24, 1864 &ndash Munich March 9, 1918) usually known as Frank Wedekind ^[9]

From July 1916, Brecht's newspaper articles began appearing under the new name "Bert Brecht" (his first theatre criticism for the Augsburger Volkswille appeared in October 1919). Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year ^[10] Brecht was finally drafted into military service in the autumn of 1918, only to be posted back to Augsburg as a medical orderly in a military VD clinic; the war ended a month later. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Sexual health clinics specialize in the prevention and treatment of Sexually transmitted infections. ^[5]

In July 1919, Brecht and Paula Banholzer (who had begun a relationship in 1917) had a son, Frank. In 1920 Brecht's mother died. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar ^[11]

Another early influence on Brecht was the cabaret-clown Karl Valentin, then performing in beerhalls and cabarets in Munich. Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring Comedy, Song, Dance, and Theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue &mdash a Restaurant Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by their Grotesque appearance colored wigs stylistic makeup, outlandish Costumes unusually Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882, Munich - 9 February Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring Comedy, Song, Dance, and Theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue &mdash a Restaurant In March of 1920, Brecht recorded in his diary that he saw a comic piece by Karl Valentin, and "rolled with laughter. Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882, Munich - 9 February " Brecht's diaries for the next several years record numerous visits by Brecht to see Valentin perform his clown-theatre. Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by their Grotesque appearance colored wigs stylistic makeup, outlandish Costumes unusually Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one ^[12]

Brecht and Karl Valentin

Some time in either 1920 or 1921, Brecht took a small part in the political cabaret of the Munich comedian Karl Valentin. Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring Comedy, Song, Dance, and Theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue &mdash a Restaurant A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience primarily by making them laugh Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882, Munich - 9 February ^[13]. Brecht is shown participating in the Valentin sketch Oktoberfestschaubude (photo, above), pretending to play the clarinet (which Brecht did not play) with Valentin playing the tuba and Valentin's performing partner, Liesl Karlstadt (appearing as the conductor, in drag, as she often did), together with a Soubrette and a clown. Soubrette is a term referring to a type of female role&mdashspecifically a Stock character &mdashin Opera and Theatre. Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by their Grotesque appearance colored wigs stylistic makeup, outlandish Costumes unusually ^[14] Brecht compared Valentin to Chaplin, for his "virtually complete rejection of mimicry and cheap psychology" ^[15] Writing in his Messingkauf Dialogues years later, Brecht identified Valentin, along with Wedekind and Büchner, as his "chief influences" at that time:

But the man he [Brecht writes of himself in the third person] learnt most from was the clown Valentin, who performed in a beer-hall. The Messingkauf Dialogues ( Dialogue aus dem Messingkauf) is an incomplete theoretical work by the twentieth-century German theatre practitioner Bertolt Karl Georg Büchner ( October 17, 1813 &ndash February 19, 1837) was a German Dramatist and Writer of prose Third person (or third-person) may refer to A Grammatical person, he, she, and they in the English language He did short sketches in which he played refractory employees, orchestral musicians or photographers, who hated their employer and made him look ridiculous. The employer was played by his partner, a popular woman comedian who used to pad herself out and speak in a deep bass voice. ^[16]

Early work as a dramatist

Brecht's first full-length play, Baal (written 1918), arose in response to an argument in one of Kutscher's drama seminars, initiating a trend that persisted throughout his career of creative activity that was generated by a desire to counter another work (both others' and his own, as his many adaptations and re-writes attest). Baal was the first full-length play written by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht. "Anyone can be creative," he quipped, "it's rewriting [the work of] other people that's a challenge. "^[17]

Brecht completed his second major play, Spartakus -later to be renamed, published and produced as Drums in the Night—in February 1919. Drums in the Night ( Trommeln in der Nacht) is a play by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht. Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common ^[18]

In 1922 while still living in Munich, Brecht came to the attention of an influential Berlin critic, Herbert Ihering: "At 24 the writer Bert Brecht has changed Germany's literary complexion overnight"—he enthused in his review of Brecht's first play to be produced, Drums in the Night—"[he] has given our time a new tone, a new melody, a new vision. Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Drums in the Night ( Trommeln in der Nacht) is a play by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht. [. . . ] It is a language you can feel on your tongue, in your gums, your ear, your spinal column. "^[19] In November it was announced that Brecht had been awarded the prestigious Kleist Prize (intended for unestablished writers and probably Germany's most significant literary award, until it was abolished in 1932) for his first three plays (Baal, Drums in the Night, and In the Jungle, although at that point only Drums had been produced). The Kleist Prize is an annual German literature prize The prize was first awarded in 1912 on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Ba'al (pronounced; Hebrew בעל (ordinarily spelled Baal in English is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" Drums in the Night ( Trommeln in der Nacht) is a play by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht. In The Jungle of Cities ( Im Dickicht der Städte) is a play by the ^[20] The citation for the award insisted that:

"[Brecht's] language is vivid without being deliberately poetic, symbolical without being over literary. Brecht is a dramatist because his language is felt physically and in the round. "^[21]

That year he married the Viennese opera-singer Marianne Zoff. Their daughter—Hanne Hiob (born in 1923)—is a successful German actress. Hanne Hiob, born Hanne Marianne Brecht (born March 12 1923 in Munich) is a German Actress. ^[5]

Lucie Hohorst and Erwin Faber in the premiere of Brecht's In the Jungle, directed by Erich Engel, at the Residenztheater (National Theatre of Bavaria), Munich, Germany, May 9, 1923. Erwin Faber ( July 21, 1891 &ndash May 4, 1989) was a leading actor in Munich and later throughout Germany, beginning In The Jungle of Cities ( Im Dickicht der Städte) is a play by the

In 1923, during a pause before rehearsals began for In the Jungle, Brecht wrote a scenario for what was turned into be a 16-minute (one-reeler) slapstick, "surreal comedy" by its director, Erich Engel, starring Karl Valentin and Valentin's cabaret partner, Liesl Karlstadt, with Erwin Faber, Max Schreck, Josef Eichheim, Carola Neher, and Blandine Ebinger, entitled Mysteries of a Barbershop (Mysterien eines Friseursalons). Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In The Jungle of Cities ( Im Dickicht der Städte) is a play by the Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882, Munich - 9 February Erwin Faber ( July 21, 1891 &ndash May 4, 1989) was a leading actor in Munich and later throughout Germany, beginning Maximilian "Max" Schreck ( September 6, 1879 &ndash February 20, 1936) was a German Actor. Mysteries of a Barbershop ( Mysterien eines Friseursalons) is a comic slapstick German film of 33 minutes created by Bertolt Brecht, directed by ^[14] The short comedy was not a success, and was not released nationally; however the interesting experimental nature of the film, and the later success of many of its participants, have caused it to be considered one of the most important one hundred films in German film history. ^[22]

In May of 1923, Brecht's In the Jungle premiered at the Residenztheater in Munich, directed by Erich Engel, starring Erwin Faber as Schlink, Otto Wernicke as Garga, and Lucie Hohorst (see photo, right). In The Jungle of Cities ( Im Dickicht der Städte) is a play by the Erwin Faber ( July 21, 1891 &ndash May 4, 1989) was a leading actor in Munich and later throughout Germany, beginning Otto Karl Robert Wernicke ( September 30, 1893 – November 7, 1965) was a German Actor. Opening night proved to be a "scandal" - a phenomenon which would characterize many of premieres of Brecht's work during the Weimar Republic - during which Nazis blew whistles and threw stink bombs at the actors on the stage. The term Weimar Republic ( ˈvaɪmarɐ repuˈbliːk is used by historians to signify the democratic and Republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933 ^[23]

In 1924 Brecht worked with the novelist and playwright Lion Feuchtwanger (whom he had met in 1919) on an adaptation of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II that proved to be a milestone in Brecht's early theatrical and dramaturgical development. Lion Feuchtwanger (pseudonym JL Wetcheek) ( 7 July 1884 - 21 December 1958) was a German - Jewish Novelist The Life of Edward II of England ( German: de ''Leben Eduards des Zweiten von England'' also known as Edward II, is an adaptation by the ^[24] The production, which premiered at the Munich Kammerspiele on March 18, 1924, starring Erwin Faber in the title role, was directed by Brecht in his directorial debut. The Munich Kammerspiele (German Münchner Kammerspiele is a successful German language theatre in Munich. Erwin Faber ( July 21, 1891 &ndash May 4, 1989) was a leading actor in Munich and later throughout Germany, beginning ^[23]

Edward II marked Brecht's first attempt at collaborative writing, and was the first of many classic texts he was to adapt. As his first solo directorial début, he later credited it as the germ of his conception of 'epic theatre'. A theatre director or stage director is a practitioner in the Theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production (a play, ^[25] That September, a job as assistant dramaturg at Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater—at the time one of the leading three or four theatres in the world—brought him to Berlin. A dramaturge or dramaturg is a position within a theatre that deals mainly with research and development Max Reinhardt ( September 9, 1873 - October 30, 1943) was an Austrian (later naturalised American) theatre and film The Deutsches Theater in Berlin is a well-known German Theatre. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. ^[26]

Weimar Republic Berlin (1925–1933)

In 1924 Brecht's marriage to Zoff began to break down (though they did not divorce until 1926). Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Brecht had become involved with both Elisabeth Hauptmann and Helene Weigel. Elisabeth Hauptmann ( June 20 1897 in Peckelsheim, Westphalia – April 20 1973 in East Berlin) was a German Helene Weigel ( 12 May 1900 in Vienna &ndash 6 May 1971 in Berlin) was one of the outstanding Actors of her ^[27] Brecht and Weigel's son, Stefan, was born in October of 1924. Stefan Brecht (born 1924 is a Poet, critic and scholar of Theater.

In his role as dramaturg, Brecht had much to stimulate him but little work of his own. ^[28] Reinhardt staged Shaw's Saint Joan, Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters (with the improvisational approach of the commedia dell'arte in which the actors chatted with the prompter about their roles), and Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author in his group of Berlin theatres. George Bernard Shaw ( (26 July 1856 &ndash 2 November 1950 was an Irish Playwright. Saint Joan is a 1923 play by Irishman George Bernard Shaw written shortly after the Roman Catholic Church canonized Joan of Arc. Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (25 February 1707 – 6 February 1793 was a celebrated Venetian Playwright and Librettist, whom critics today rank among the European A Servant to Two Masters ( Arlecchino servitore di due padroni) is a Comedy by the Italian Playwright Carlo Goldoni written Commedia dell'Arte ( Italian: "the comedy of artists" is a form of Improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century Luigi Pirandello ( June 28, 1867 — December 10, 1936) was an Italian Dramatist Novelist, and short Six Characters in Search of an Author ( Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore) is the most famous and celebrated play by the Italian writer Luigi Pirandello. ^[29] A new version of Brecht's third play, now entitled Jungle: Decline of a Family, opened at the Deutsches Theater in October 1924, but was not a success. In The Jungle of Cities ( Im Dickicht der Städte) is a play by the ^[30]

At this time Brecht revised his important 'transitional poem' "Of Poor BB". ^[31] In 1925, his publishers provided him with Elisabeth Hauptmann as an assistant for the completion of his collection of poems, Devotions for the Home (Hauspostille, eventually published in January 1927). Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Elisabeth Hauptmann ( June 20 1897 in Peckelsheim, Westphalia – April 20 1973 in East Berlin) was a German Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. She continued to work with him after the publisher's commission ran out. ^[32]

In 1925 in Mannheim the artistic exhibition Neue Sachlichkeit ('new sobriety' or 'new objectivity') had given its name to the new post-Expressionist movement in the German arts. Mannheim is a City in Germany. With 327318 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg after the capital Stuttgart The New Objectivity, or Neue Sachlichkeit (new dispassion was an art movement that arose in Germany in the early 1920s as an outgrowth of and in opposition to Expressionism is the tendency of an artist to distort reality for an Emotional effect it is a subjective art form With little to do at the Deutsches Theater, Brecht began to develop his Man Equals Man project, which was to become the first product of "the 'Brecht collective'—that shifting group of friends and collaborators on whom he henceforward depended. Man Equals Man ( Mann ist Mann) or A Man's a Man, is a play by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht "^[33] This collaborative approach to artistic production, together with aspects of Brecht's writing and style of theatrical production, mark Brecht's work from this period as part of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement. The New Objectivity, or Neue Sachlichkeit (new dispassion was an art movement that arose in Germany in the early 1920s as an outgrowth of and in opposition to ^[34] The collective's work "mirrored the artistic climate of the middle 1920s," Willett and Manheim argue:

with their attitude of 'Neue Sachlichkeit' (or New Matter-of-Factness), their stressing of the collectivity and downplaying of the individual, and their new cult of Anglo-Saxon imagery and sport. The New Objectivity, or Neue Sachlichkeit (new dispassion was an art movement that arose in Germany in the early 1920s as an outgrowth of and in opposition to Together the 'collective' would go to fights, not only absorbing their terminology and ethos (which permeates Man Equals Man) but also drawing those conclusions for the theatre as a whole which Brecht set down in his theoretical essay 'Emphasis on Sport' and tried to realise by means of the harsh lighting, the boxing-ring stage and other anti-illusionistic devices that henceforward appeared in his own productions. ^[35]

Chaplin's silent comedy The Gold Rush (1925). The Gold Rush is a 1925 Silent film comedy written directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin in his Little Tramp Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

In 1925, Brecht also saw two films that had a significant influence on him: Chaplin's The Gold Rush and Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin. The Gold Rush is a 1925 Silent film comedy written directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin in his Little Tramp Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн January 23, 1898 &ndash February 11, 1948) was The Battleship Potemkin ( Броненосец «Потёмкин», ru '''''Bronyenosyets Potyomkin''''' sometimes rendered as The Battleship ^[36] Brecht had compared Valentin to Chaplin, and the two of them provided models for Galy Gay in Man Equals Man. Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882, Munich - 9 February Man Equals Man ( Mann ist Mann) or A Man's a Man, is a play by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht ^[37] Brecht later wrote that Chaplin "would in many ways come closer to the epic than to the dramatic theatre's requirements. ' Demonstration' is a central part of the Brechtian approach to Acting. "^[38] They met several times during Brecht's time in the United States, and discussed Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux project, which it is possible Brecht influenced. Monsieur Verdoux is a 1947 Black comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. ^[39]

In 1926 a series of short stories was published under Brecht's name, though Hauptmann was closely associated with writing them. Year 1926 ( MCMXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[40] Following the production of Man Equals Man in Darmstadt that year, Brecht began studying Marxism and socialism in earnest, under the supervision of Hauptmann. Man Equals Man ( Mann ist Mann) or A Man's a Man, is a play by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution ^[41] "When I read Marx's Capital", a note by Brecht reveals, "I understood my plays. " Marx was, it continues, "the only spectator for my plays I'd ever come across. "^[42]

In 1927 Brecht became part of the 'dramaturgical collective' of Erwin Piscator's first company, which was designed to tackle the problem of finding new plays for its "epic, political, confrontational, documentary theatre". Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A dramaturge or dramaturg is a position within a theatre that deals mainly with research and development Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator ( 17 December, 1893 in Greifenstein -Ulm – 30 March, 1966) was a German Theatre ^[44] Brecht collaborated with Piscator during the period of the latter's landmark productions, Hoppla, We're Alive! by Toller, Rasputin, The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik, and Konjunktur by Lania. Source Ernst Toller Plays One Transformation Masses Man Hoppla We're Alive! Edited and Translated with and introduction by Alan Raphael Pearlman Ernst Toller ( December 1, 1893 – May 22, 1939) was a German communist Playwright, best known for his The Good Soldier Švejk (spelled Schweik or Schwejk in many translations and pronounced or "shvayk" in plain English transcription is ^[45] Brecht's most significant contribution was to the adaptation of the unfinished episodic comic novel Schweik, which he later described as a "montage from the novel". ^[46] The Piscator productions influenced Brecht's ideas about staging and design, and alerted him to the radical potentials offered to the 'epic' playwright by the development of stage technology (particularly projections). Non-Aristotelian drama, or the 'epic form' of the Drama, refers to a kind of play whose dramaturgical structure departs from the features of classical ^[47] What Brecht took from Piscator "is fairly plain, and he acknowledged it" Willett suggests:

The emphasis on Reason and didacticism, the sense that the new subject matter demanded a new dramatic form, the use of songs to interrupt and comment: all these are found in his notes and essays of the 1920s, and he bolstered them by citing such Piscatorial examples as the step-by-step narrative technique of Schweik and the oil interests handled in Konjunktur ('Petroleum resists the five-act form'). Non-Aristotelian drama, or the 'epic form' of the Drama, refers to a kind of play whose dramaturgical structure departs from the features of classical The technique of interruption pervades all levels of the stage work of the German Modernist Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht —the ^[48]

Brecht was struggling at the time with the question of how to dramatize the complex economic relationships of modern capitalism in his unfinished project Joe P. Fleischhacker (which Piscator's theatre announced in its programme for the 1927-28 season). It wasn't until his Saint Joan of the Stockyards (written between 1929-1931) that Brecht solved it. Saint Joan of the Stockyards (in German: Die Heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe) is a play written by Bertolt Brecht between 1929 and ^[49] In 1928 he discussed with Piscator plans to stage Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Brecht's own Drums in the Night, but the productions did not materialize. William Shakespeare ( baptised Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599 Drums in the Night ( Trommeln in der Nacht) is a play by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht. ^[50]

1927 also saw the first collaboration between Brecht and the young composer Kurt Weill. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Kurt Julian Weill ( March 2, 1900 &ndash April 3, ^[51] Together they began to develop Brecht's Mahagonny project, along thematic lines of the biblical Cities of the Plain but rendered in terms of the Neue Sachlichkeit's Amerikanismus, which had informed Brecht's previous work. Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny is a political-satirical Opera composed by Kurt Weill to a The New Objectivity, or Neue Sachlichkeit (new dispassion was an art movement that arose in Germany in the early 1920s as an outgrowth of and in opposition to ^[52] They produced The Little Mahagonny for a music festival in July, as what Weill called a "stylistic exercise" in preparation for the large-scale piece. Mahagonny-Songspiel, also known as The Little Mahagonny, is a "small-scale 'scenic cantata'" written by the composer Kurt Weill and From that point on Caspar Neher became an integral part of the collaborative effort, with words, music and visuals conceived in relation to one another from the start. Caspar Neher (born Rudolf Ludwig Caspar Neher 11 April 1897 in Augsburg; died 30 June 1962 in Wien) was a Austrian ^[53] The model for their mutual articulation lay in Brecht's newly-formulated principle of the 'separation of the elements', which he first outlined in "The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre" (1930). ' Separation of the elements' is an aesthetic principle formulated by the German modernist Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. "The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre" is a theoretical work by the twentieth-century German theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. The principle, a variety of montage, proposed by-passing the "great struggle for supremacy between words, music and production" as Brecht put it, by showing each as self-contained, independent works of art that adopt attitudes towards one another. Soviet montage theory is an approach to understanding and creating cinema that relies heavily upon editing ( montage is French for "putting together" Gestus is an acting technique developed by the German Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. ^[54]

In 1930 Brecht married Weigel; their daughter Barbara Brecht was born soon after the wedding. She also became an actress and currently holds the copyrights to all of Brecht's work. Copyright is a legal concept enacted by Governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship Exclusive rights to control its distribution usually for

Die Dreigroschenoper, original German poster from Berlin, 1928.

Brecht formed a writing collective which became prolific and very influential. Elisabeth Hauptmann, Margarete Steffin, Emil Burri, Ruth Berlau and others worked with Brecht and produced the multiple teaching plays, which attempted to create a new dramaturgy for participants rather than passive audiences. Elisabeth Hauptmann ( June 20 1897 in Peckelsheim, Westphalia – April 20 1973 in East Berlin) was a German The Lehrstücke (plural form singular Lehrstück)&mdashor "learning-" or "teaching-plays"&mdashare a radical and experimental form of Dramaturgy is the art of Dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage These addressed themselves to the massive worker arts organisation that existed in Germany and Austria in the 1920s. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich So did Brecht's first great play, Saint Joan of the Stockyards, which attempted to portray the drama in financial transactions. Saint Joan of the Stockyards (in German: Die Heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe) is a play written by Bertolt Brecht between 1929 and

This collective adapted John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, with Brecht's songs set to music by Kurt Weill. John Gay ( 30 June, 1685 - 4 December, 1732) was an English Poet and Dramatist. The Beggar's Opera is a Ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Kurt Julian Weill ( March 2, 1900 &ndash April 3, Retitled The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) it was the biggest hit in Berlin of the 1920s and a renewing influence on the musical worldwide. The Threepenny Opera ( Die Dreigroschenoper) is a revolutionary work of Musical theatre, by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Musical theatre is a form of Theatre combining Music, Songs spoken Dialogue and Dance. One of its most famous lines underscored the hypocrisy of conventional morality imposed by the Church, working in conjunction with the established order, in the face of working-class hunger and deprivation:

The success of The Threepenny Opera was followed by the quickly thrown together Happy End. The Threepenny Opera ( Die Dreigroschenoper) is a revolutionary work of Musical theatre, by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer It was a personal and a commercial failure. At the time the book was purported to be by the mysterious Dorothy Lane (now known to be Elisabeth Hauptmann, Brecht's secretary and close collaborator). Elisabeth Hauptmann ( June 20 1897 in Peckelsheim, Westphalia – April 20 1973 in East Berlin) was a German Brecht only claimed authorship of the song texts. Brecht would later use elements of Happy End as the germ for his Saint Joan of the Stockyards, a play that would never see the stage in Brecht's lifetime. Happy End's score by Weill produced many Brecht/Weill hits like "Der Bilbao-Song" and "Surabaya-Jonny".

The masterpiece of the Brecht/Weill collaborations, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny), caused an uproar when it premiered in 1930 in Leipzig, with Nazis in the audience protesting. Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny is a political-satirical Opera composed by Kurt Weill to a The Mahagonny opera would premier later in Berlin in 1931 as a triumphant sensation.

Brecht spent his last years in the Weimar-era Berlin (1930-1933) working with his ‘collective’ on the Lehrstücke. These were a group of plays driven by morals, music and Brecht's budding Epic Theatre. The Lehrstücke often aimed at educating workers on Socialist issues. The Measures Taken (Die Massnahme) was scored by Hanns Eisler. Hanns Eisler ( July 6, 1898 &ndash September 6, 1962) was a German and Austrian Composer. In addition, Brecht worked on a script for a semi-documentary feature film about the human impact of mass unemployment, Kuhle Wampe (1932), which was directed by Slatan Dudow. Kuhle Wampe ( the full title is Kuhle Wampe oder Wem gehört die Welt) is a German feature film released in 1932, about unemployment and Slatan Theodor Dudow (Златан Дудов Zlatan Dudov) ( January 30, 1903 - July 12, 1963) was a Bulgarian born Film director This striking film is notable for its subversive humour, outstanding cinematography by Günther Krampf, and Hanns Eisler's dynamic musical contribution. See also Filmmaking Cinematography (from Greek: kinesis κινησις (movement and grapho γραφω (to record is the discipline Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. It still provides a vivid insight into Berlin during the last years of the Weimar Republic. The term Weimar Republic ( ˈvaɪmarɐ repuˈbliːk is used by historians to signify the democratic and Republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933

By February 1933, Brecht’s work was eclipsed by the rise of Nazi rule in Germany. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German (Brecht would also have his work challenged again in later life by the U. S. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which believed he was under the influence of communism. The House Committee on Un-American Activities ( HUAC or HCUA 1938–1975 was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. ^[55][56])

Nazi Germany and World War II (1933–1945)

Fearing persecution, Brecht left Germany in February 1933, when Hitler took power. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately He went to Denmark, but when war seemed imminent in 1939, he moved to Stockholm, Sweden. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. He stayed there for one year. Then Hitler invaded Norway and Denmark, and Brecht felt the need to leave Sweden for Finland where he waited for his visa for the United States until May 3, 1941. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Helsinki (in Finnish;) or Helsingfors (in Swedish;) is the Capital and largest city of Finland. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries adopting the baptismal name of João Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

During the war years, Brecht expressed his opposition to the National Socialist and Fascist movements in his most famous plays: Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Good Person of Sezuan, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, and many others. Life of Galileo ( Leben des Galilei) also known as Galileo, is a play by the twentieth-century German Dramatist Bertolt Mother Courage and Her Children (Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (original German title) is a play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, originally written in The Caucasian Chalk Circle ( German: Der Kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a 1944 play by Bertolt Brecht. Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, (Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches also known as The Private Life of the Master Race, is one of Brecht 's most

During the war, Brecht's poetry continued to garner attention. While made famous by his many plays the German playwright Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956 also wrote hundreds of poems throughout his life Though he derived no real success or pleasure in this, he worked on a few screenplays for Hollywood, including Hangmen Also Die. Hangmen Also Die! is a War film directed by the legendary Austrian director Fritz Lang and written by John Wexley Bertolt Brecht and Lang

Cold War and final years in East Germany (1945–1956)

Statue of Brecht outside the Berliner Ensemble's theatre in Berlin

In the years of the Cold War and "red scare", the House Un-American Activities Committee called Brecht to account for his communist allegiances, and he was soon blacklisted by movie studio bosses. Overview The Berliner Ensemble is a German Theatre company established by Playwright, Bertolt Brecht and his wife Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the Red Menace redirects here For the 2007 Wildstorm Productions comic book series see Red Menace (comics. The House Committee on Un-American Activities ( HUAC or HCUA 1938–1975 was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. "Hollywood Ten" redirects here For the 1950 short documentary film see The Hollywood Ten. Brecht, along with about 41 other Hollywood writers, directors, actors and producers, was subpoenaed to appear before the HUAC in September 1947.

Initially, Brecht was one of 19 witnesses who declared that they would refuse to testify about their political affiliations. Eleven members of this group were actually questioned on this point but, as Brecht later explained, he did not want to delay a planned trip to Europe, so he followed the advice of attorneys and broke with his earlier avowal. On October 30, 1947, he appeared before the committee and testified that he had never actually held party membership. Events 637 - Antioch surrenders to the Muslim forces under Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of Iron bridge. Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[56]

During his appearance before the committee, Brecht wore overalls and smoked an acrid cigar that made some of the committee members feel slightly ill. He made wry jokes throughout the proceedings, punctuating his inability to speak English well with continuous references to the translators present, who transformed his German statements into English ones unintelligible to himself.

Brecht's decision to testify led to criticism, including accusations of betrayal. The remaining witnesses, the so called Hollywood Ten, refused to testify and were cited for contempt. "Hollywood Ten" redirects here For the 1950 short documentary film see The Hollywood Ten. HUAC Vice Chairman Karl Mundt thanked Brecht for cooperating. Karl Earl Mundt ( June 3, 1900 – August 16, 1974) was an American educator and a Republican member of the United The day after his testimony, on 31 October, Brecht flew to Europe. ^[57]

In Switzerland, Brecht composed an adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone, which was performed at Chur. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Sophocles (ˈsɒfəkliːz Ancient Greek, sopʰoklɛ̂ːs circa It was based on the translation by Hölderlin, but was considerably modified. It was published under the title Antigonemodell 1948, accompanied by an essay on the importance of creating a 'non-Aristotelian' form of theatre. He was subsequently invited to return to Berlin by the Communist regime in East Germany. The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state Horrified at the reinstatement of former Nazis into West Germany's government, Brecht accepted the offer and made East Berlin his home in 1949. West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990 He was enticed by the offer of his own theatre (completed in 1954) and theatre company (the Berliner Ensemble). Overview The Berliner Ensemble is a German Theatre company established by Playwright, Bertolt Brecht and his wife He retained his Austrian nationality (granted in 1950), however, and overseas bank accounts from which he received valuable hard currency remittances. The copyrights on his writings were held by a Swiss company. ^[58] He used to drive around East Berlin in a pre-war DKW car—a rare luxury in the austere divided capital. Dampf Kraft Wagen (steam-driven car or DKW is a historic car and Motorcycle Marque.

While Brecht's communist sympathies were a bane in the United States, East German officials sought to make him their hero. Though he had not been a member of the Communist Party, he had been deeply schooled in Marxism by the dissident communist Karl Korsch, and his communist allegiances were sincere. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Karl Korsch ( August 15, 1886 - October 21, 1961) was a German Marxist theorist He claimed communism appeared to be the only reliable antidote to militarist fascism and spoke out against the remilitarization of the West and the division of Germany. Militarism is the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology As a consequence of Germany 's defeat in World War II and the onset of the Cold War, the country was split between the two global blocs in the East and West Brecht used Korsch's version of the Marxist dialectic in both his aesthetic theory and practice in a central way when presenting his plays.

Grave of Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel.

Brecht wrote very few plays in his last years in East Berlin, none of them as famous as his previous works. Instead, he dedicated himself to directing plays and developing the talents of the next generation of young directors and dramaturges, such as Manfred Wekwerth, Benno Besson and Carl Weber. Carl Weber is a theatre director and has been Professor of drama at Stanford University since 1984 Some of his most famous poems, however, including the "Buckower Elegies", came from this era. One of the poems in the "Buckower Elegies," Die Lösung (The Solution) was Brecht's later commentary on the uprising of 17 June 1953 in East Germany:

After the uprising of the 17th of June

The Secretary of the Writers Union

Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee

Stating that the people

Had thrown away the confidence of the government

And could win it back only

By redoubled efforts. The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany took place in June 1953 A strike by Berlin construction workers on June 16 Would it not be easier

In that case for the government

To dissolve the people

And elect another?

Brecht had previously supported the measures taken by the East German government to crush the uprising, including the use of Soviet military force; he even wrote a letter on the day of the uprising (17 June) to SED First Secretary Walter Ulbricht stating that every whim of freedom must be crushed and communist dictaorship must reign supreme, no matter what cost in lives, although in that letter he also urged the SED leadership to have a "grand dialogue with the masses" concerning the political and economic conditions in the country. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Socialist Unity Party of Germany ( German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED) was the governing party of the German Democratic Walter Ulbricht ( June 30, 1893 &ndash August 1, 1973) was a German Communist politician

Death

Brecht died on 14 August 1956 of a heart attack at the age of 58. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply

In his will he provided instructions that a stiletto be placed in his heart and that he be buried in a steel coffin so that his corpse could not be eaten by worms. In Common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the Testator) regulates the rights of others over his or her Property A stiletto is a short Knife or Dagger, with a long slender blade of various designs He is buried in the Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof on Chausseestraße in the Mitte neighbourhood of Berlin. Localities of the Mitte borough The new borough of Mitte consists of six localities Mitte (the former Mitte borough Moabit

In Augsburg, a simple plaque, written by an unknown worker is displayed on the house where Brecht lived and worked. It reads:

"Where is Augsburg? The city which is silent about its great son. "

Impact

Brecht left the Berliner Ensemble to his wife, the actress Helene Weigel, which she ran until her death in 1971. Overview The Berliner Ensemble is a German Theatre company established by Playwright, Bertolt Brecht and his wife Helene Weigel ( 12 May 1900 in Vienna &ndash 6 May 1971 in Berlin) was one of the outstanding Actors of her Perhaps the most famous German touring theater of the postwar era, it was primarily devoted to performing Brecht plays.

His son, Stefan Brecht, became a poet and theatre critic interested in New York's avant-garde theatre. Stefan Brecht (born 1924 is a Poet, critic and scholar of Theater.

Brecht has been a controversial figure in Germany, and in his native city of Augsburg there were objections to creating a birthplace museum. However, by the 1970's, Brecht's plays had surpassed Shakespeare in the number of annual performances in Germany.

Brecht's influence can be seen in the cinema. Such filmmakers as Lars Von Trier, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Oshima, Ritwik Ghatak and Jean-Luc Godard were influenced by Brecht and his theory of the Verfremdungseffekt. Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish Film director and Screenwriter. Rainer Werner Fassbinder (May 31 1945 &ndash June 10 1982 was a German Film director, Screenwriter and Actor. Ritwik Ghatak (ঋত্বিক (কুমার ঘটক Rittik (Kumar Ghôţok) ( November 4 1925 February 6 1976) was a Jean-Luc Godard (French ʒɑ̃lyk gɔˈdaʀ (born on December 3 1930 is a French and Swiss Filmmaker and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague The distancing effect (from the German Verfremdungseffekt) or alienation effect, is a theatrical and cinematic device coined by Playwright Often mis-translated as the 'Alienation effect', it is a process of emotionally distancing the audience from the on-stage action. Ghatak first translated Brecht into Bengali, before then making use of some of his key theories in the later films Cloud-Capped Star and Subarna-Rekha.

Dramatic works (and screenplays)

Entries show: English-language translation of title (German-language title) [year written] / [year first produced]^[59]

• Baal (Baal) 1918/1923
• Drums in the Night (Trommeln in der Nacht) 1918-20/1922
• The Beggar (Der Bettler oder Der tote Hund) 1919/?
• A Respectable Wedding (Die Kleinbürgerhochzeit) 1919/1926
• Driving Out a Devil (Er treibt einen Teufel aus) 1919/?
• Lux in Tenebris (Lux in Tenebris) 1919/?
• The Catch (Der Fischzug) 1919?/?
• Mysteries of a Barbershop (Mysterien eines Friseursalons) (screenplay) 1923
• In The Jungle of Cities (Im Dickicht der Städte) 1921-24/1923
• Edward II (Leben Eduards des Zweiten von England) 1924/1924
• Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer (Der Untergang des Egoisten Johnann Fatzer) (fragments) 1926-30/1974
• Man Equals Man (Mann ist Mann) 1924-26/1926
• The Elephant Calf (Das Elefantenkalb) 1924-6/1926
• Little Mahagonny (Mahagonny-Songspiel) 1927/1927
• The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) 1928/1928
• The Flight across the Ocean (Der Ozeanflug; originally Lindbergh's Flight [(Lindberghflug]) 1928-29/1929
• The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent (Badener Lehrstück vom Einverständnis) 1929/1929
• Happy End (Happy End) 1929/1929
• The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny) 1927-29/1930
• He Said Yes / He Said No (Der Jasager; Der Neinsager) 1929-30/1930-?
• The Decision (Die Maßnahme) 1930/1930
• Saint Joan of the Stockyards (Die heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe) 1929-31/1959
  

  Stamp from the former East Germany depicting Brecht and a scene from his Life of Galileo. (born; 10 February 1898&ndash14 August 1956 was a German Poet, Playwright, and Theatre director. Baal was the first full-length play written by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht. Drums in the Night ( Trommeln in der Nacht) is a play by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht. The Beggar is a short play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. A Respectable Wedding is a short play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Driving Out a Devil is a short play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Lux in Tenebris is a short one-act Farce, written in Prose, by the German Dramatist Bertolt Brecht. The Catch is a short play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Mysteries of a Barbershop ( Mysterien eines Friseursalons) is a comic slapstick German film of 33 minutes created by Bertolt Brecht, directed by In The Jungle of Cities ( Im Dickicht der Städte) is a play by the The Life of Edward II of England ( German: de ''Leben Eduards des Zweiten von England'' also known as Edward II, is an adaptation by the Bertolt Brecht 's unfinished play begun in 1926 Der Untergang des Egoisten Johnann Fatzer, or Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer is often called the Fatzer Man Equals Man ( Mann ist Mann) or A Man's a Man, is a play by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht The Elephant Calf ( Das Elefantenkalb) also known as The Baby Elephant, is an early one-act surrealistic Prose Farce written Mahagonny-Songspiel, also known as The Little Mahagonny, is a "small-scale 'scenic cantata'" written by the composer Kurt Weill and The Threepenny Opera ( Die Dreigroschenoper) is a revolutionary work of Musical theatre, by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer The Flight across the Ocean ( Der Ozeanflug) is a Lehrstuck by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, inspired by We, The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent ( Badener Lehrstück vom Einverständnis) is a Lehrstuck by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Happy End is a three-act musical comedy by Kurt Weill, Elisabeth Hauptmann and Bertolt Brecht which first opened in Berlin Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny is a political-satirical Opera composed by Kurt Weill to a Der Jasager ( The Affirmer or He Said Yes) is an Opera (specifically a Schuloper or 'school-opera' by Kurt Weill to a Der Jasager ( The Affirmer or He Said Yes) is an Opera (specifically a Schuloper or 'school-opera' by Kurt Weill to a Der Jasager ( The Affirmer or He Said Yes) is an Opera (specifically a Schuloper or 'school-opera' by Kurt Weill to a The Decision ( Die Maßnahme) also known as The Measures Taken, is a Lehrstuck by the twentieth-century German Saint Joan of the Stockyards (in German: Die Heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe) is a play written by Bertolt Brecht between 1929 and The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state Life of Galileo ( Leben des Galilei) also known as Galileo, is a play by the twentieth-century German Dramatist Bertolt
• The Exception and the Rule (Die Ausnahme und die Regel) 1930/1938
• The Mother (Die Mutter) 1930-31/1932
• Kuhle Wampe (screenplay) 1931/1932
• The Seven Deadly Sins (Die sieben Todsünden der Kleinbürger) 1933/1933
• Round Heads and Pointed Heads (Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe) 1931-34/1936
• The Horatians and the Curiatians (Die Horatier und die Kuriatier) 1933-34/1958
• Fear and Misery of the Third Reich (Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches) 1935-38/1938
• Señora Carrar's Rifles (Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar) 1937/1937
• Life of Galileo (Leben des Galilei) 1937-9/1943
• How Much Is Your Iron? (Was kostet das Eisen?) 1939/1939
• Dansen (Dansen) 1939/?
• Mother Courage and Her Children (Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder) 1938-39/1941
• The Trial of Lucullus (Das Verhör des Lukullus) 1938-39/1940
• Mr Puntila and his Man Matti (Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti) 1940/1948
• The Good Person of Szechwan (Der gute Mensch von Sezuan) 1939-42/1943
• The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui) 1941/1958
• Hangmen Also Die (screenplay) 1942/1943
• The Visions of Simone Machard (Die Gesichte der Simone Machard ) 1942-43/1957
• The Duchess of Malfi 1943/1943
• Schweik in the Second World War (Schweyk im Zweiten Weltkrieg) 1941-43/1957
• The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) 1943-45/1948
• Antigone (Die Antigone des Sophokles) 1947/1948
• The Days of the Commune (Die Tage der Commune) 1948-49/1956
• The Tutor (Der Hofmeister) 1950/1950
• The Condemnation of Lucullus (Die Verurteilung des Lukullus) 1938-39/1951
• Report from Herrnburg (Herrnburger Bericht) 1951/1951
• Coriolanus (Coriolan) 1951-53/1962
• Joan of Arc (Der Prozess der Jeanne D'Arc zu Rouen, 1431) 1952/1952
• Turandot (Turandot oder Der Kongreß der Weißwäscher) 1953-54/1969
• Don Juan (Don Juan) 1952/1954
• Trumpets and Drums (Pauken und Trompeten) 1955/1955

Theory of theatre

	Theories and techniques of Bertolt Brecht v • d • e
	Epic theatre • Non-Aristotelian drama • Lehrstücke • Dialectical theatre
	Fabel • Gestus • Defamiliarization • Demonstration • Not / But • Historicization
	Refunctioning • Separation of the elements • Interruptions • Nodal point • Complex seeing
	The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre • The Street Scene • A Short Organum for the Theatre • Messingkauf Dialogues

Above all things that theatre was and what he wanted theatre to be, Brecht believed that the theatre's broadest function was to educate. The Exception and the Rule (in German Die Ausnahme und die Regel) is a short play by famous The Mother ( Die Mutter) is a play by twentieth-century German Dramatist Bertolt Brecht based on Maxim Gorky ’s 1906 novel Kuhle Wampe ( the full title is Kuhle Wampe oder Wem gehört die Welt) is a German feature film released in 1932, about unemployment and The Seven Deadly Sins (Die sieben Todsünden Les Sept Péchés Capitaux is a satirical ballet chanté ("sung ballet" in nine scenes composed by Round Heads and Pointed Heads (German Die Rundeköpfe und die Spitzköpfe) sometimes translated as Round Heads and Peaked Heads or Roundheads and The Horatians and the Curiatians is a Lehrstuck by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, (Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches also known as The Private Life of the Master Race, is one of Brecht 's most Señora Carrar's Rifles ( Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar) is a one-act play by the twentieth-century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Life of Galileo ( Leben des Galilei) also known as Galileo, is a play by the twentieth-century German Dramatist Bertolt Mother Courage and Her Children (Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956 The Trial of Lucullus is a short didactic radio play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht written in verse The play Mr Puntila and his Man Matti ( Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti, 1941 is one of Bertolt Brecht 's modern social criticism plays The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (original German title) is a play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, originally written in Hangmen Also Die! is a War film directed by the legendary Austrian director Fritz Lang and written by John Wexley Bertolt Brecht and Lang The Visions of Simone Machard is a play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht written in 1942 The Duchess of Malfi is an adaptation by the twentieth-century German Dramatist [[Bertolt Brecht]] of the English seventeenth-century tragedy Schweik in the Second World War ( Schweyk im Zweiten Weltkrieg) is a play by German Dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht. The Caucasian Chalk Circle ( German: Der Kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a 1944 play by Bertolt Brecht. Antigone, also known as The Antigone of Sophocles, is an adaptation by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht of Hölderlin 's translation of Sophocles' The Days of the Commune is a play by the twentieth-century German Dramatist Bertolt Brecht. The Tutor is an adaptation by the twentieth-century German Dramatist Bertolt Brecht of an eighteenth-century play by Lenz. Die Verurteilung des Lukullus ( The Condemnation of Lucullus) is a Opera by Paul Dessau to a libretto by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht Report from Herrnburg is a production performed by a youth chorus that consisted of ten songs each with a brief introductory commentary written by the German Coriolanus is an unfinished German adaptation by the modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht of the English 17th-century Tragedy by William The Trial of Joan of Arc of Proven 1431 is an adaptation by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht of a radio play by Anna Seghers. Turandot or the Whitewashers' Congress is a play written by the twentieth-century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht in 1953-4 and first produced at the Zürich Don Juan is an adaptation by the twentieth-century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht of a seventeenth-century French play by Molière. Trumpets and Drums is an adaptation by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht of an eighteenth-century English Restoration comedy by Farquhar, (born; 10 February 1898&ndash14 August 1956 was a German Poet, Playwright, and Theatre director. Non-Aristotelian drama, or the 'epic form' of the Drama, refers to a kind of play whose dramaturgical structure departs from the features of classical The Lehrstücke (plural form singular Lehrstück)&mdashor "learning-" or "teaching-plays"&mdashare a radical and experimental form of Dialectical theatre is a label that the German Modernist Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht came to prefer to Epic Theatre Fabel is a critical term and dramaturgical technique pioneered by the twentieth-century German Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht Gestus is an acting technique developed by the German Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. The distancing effect (from the German Verfremdungseffekt) or alienation effect, is a theatrical and cinematic device coined by Playwright ' Demonstration' is a central part of the Brechtian approach to Acting. ' Not / But, or the 'notbut' element is an Acting technique that forms part of the Brechtian approach to performance The principle of ' historicizaton' is a fundamental part of the aesthetic developed by the German modernist Theatre practitioner Bertolt ' Refunctioning' is a core strategy of the aesthetic developed by the German modernist Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. ' Separation of the elements' is an aesthetic principle formulated by the German modernist Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. The technique of interruption pervades all levels of the stage work of the German Modernist Theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht —the The cardinal points and the associated cardinal planes are a set of special points and planes in an optical system which help in the analysis ' Complex seeing' is a type of spectator response that ' epic theatre ' seeks to provoke in its audience "The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre" is a theoretical work by the twentieth-century German theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. The Street Scene is a basic model for epic theater set forth by Bertolt Brecht. "A Short Organum for the Theatre" ("Kleines Organon für das Theater" is a theoretical work by the twentieth-century German theatre practitioner Bertolt The Messingkauf Dialogues ( Dialogue aus dem Messingkauf) is an incomplete theoretical work by the twentieth-century German theatre practitioner Bertolt Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one "It is the noblest function that we have found for 'theatre'". ^[60]

Brecht wanted the answer to Lenin’s question ‘Wie und was soll man lernen?’ ('How and what should one learn?'). He created an influential theory of theatre, the epic theatre, wherein a play should not cause the spectator to emotionally identify with the action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the actions on the stage. He believed that the experience of a climactic catharsis of emotion left an audience complacent. Instead, he wanted his audiences to use this critical perspective to identify social ills at work in the world and be moved to go forth from the theatre and effect change.

Hans Eisler has noted that these plays resemble political seminars. Hanns Eisler ( July 6, 1898 &ndash September 6, 1962) was a German and Austrian Composer. Brecht described them as "a collective political meeting" in which the audience is to participate actively. One sees in this model a rejection of the concept of the bureaucratic elite party where the politicians are to issue directives and control the behaviour of the masses.

For this purpose, Brecht employed the use of techniques that remind the spectator that the play is a representation of reality and not reality itself, which he called the Verfremdungseffekt (translated as distancing effect, estrangement effect, or alienation effect). The distancing effect (from the German Verfremdungseffekt) or alienation effect, is a theatrical and cinematic device coined by Playwright Such techniques included the direct address by actors to the audience, transposition of text to third person or past tense, speaking the stage direction out loud, exaggerated, unnatural stage lighting, the use of song, and explanatory placards. ^[61] By highlighting the constructed nature of the theatrical event, Brecht hoped to communicate that the audience's reality was, in fact a construction and, as such, was changeable.

Another technique that Brecht employed to achieve his Verfremdungseffekt was the principle of historicisation. The principle of ' historicizaton' is a fundamental part of the aesthetic developed by the German modernist Theatre practitioner Bertolt The content of many of his plays dealt with fictional tellings of historical figures or events. His idea was that if one were to tell a story from a time that is contemporary to an audience, they may not be able to maintain the critical perspective he hoped to achieve. Instead, he focused on historical stories that had parallel themes to the social ills he was hoping to illuminate in his own time. He hoped that, in viewing these historical stories from a critical perspective, the contemporary issues Brecht was addressing would be illuminated to the audience.

In one of his first productions, Brecht famously put up signs that said "Glotzt nicht so romantisch!" ("Don't stare so romantically!"). His manner of stagecraft has proven both fruitful and confusing to those who try to produce his works or works in his style. His theory of theatre has heavily influenced modern theatre. Some of his innovations have become so common that they've entered the theatrical canon.

Although Brecht's work and ideas about theatre are generally thought of as belonging to modernism, there is recent thought that he is the forerunner of contemporary postmodern theatre practice. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism This is particularly so because he questioned and dissolved many of the accepted practices of the theatre of his time and created a political theatre that involved the audience in understanding its meaning. In the history of theatre there is long tradition of performances addressing issues of current events and central to society itself encouraging consciousness and social change Moreover, he was one of the first theatre practitioners to incorporate multimedia into the semiotics of theatre. Semiotics, semiotic studies, or semiology is the study of sign processes (semiosis or signification and communication signs and Symbols both

The birth of Brecht's theories, centering around his writing of Baal and In the Jungle of Cities, was the core of the plot of the play The Concrete Girl by Bertolt Brecht written by Josh Morrall and Simon Farid. Baal was the first full-length play written by the German modernist Playwright Bertolt Brecht. In The Jungle of Cities ( Im Dickicht der Städte) is a play by the Set in 1921, when Brecht was 23, the short play featured an actor portraying Brecht on stage as a tortured, young, famine stricken writer, recently arrived in Berlin. In order to inspire himself to finish a play he is writing (the fictitious, supposedly 'lost' play The Concrete Girl) Brecht summons Frank Wedekind from his grave. Benjamin Franklin Wedekind ( Hannover July 24, 1864 &ndash Munich March 9, 1918) usually known as Frank Wedekind Brecht hopes Wedekind will aid him in the writing of the play, but is ultimately left feeling discouraged, and burns the work, setting the tone for his early theory and later works.

Theoretical works

• "The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre" (1930)
• "The Threepenny Lawsuit" (written 1931; published 1932)
• "The Street Scene" (written 1938; published 1950)
• "The Popular and the Realistic" (written 1938; published 1958)
• "Short Description of a New Technique of Acting which Produces an Alienation Effect" (written 1940; published 1951)
• "A Short Organum for the Theatre" ("Kleines Organon für das Theater", written 1948; published 1949)
• The Messingkauf Dialogues (Dialogue aus dem Messingkauf, published 1963)

Collaborators and associates

Bibliography

Notes

External links

• Brecht's works in English: A bibliography: The bibliography of Bertolt Brecht's works in English translation aims to present a comprehensive listing of Brecht's works published in English translation.
• The International Brecht Society
• Bertolt Brecht's Photo & Gravesite
• Poem of Brecht on the street in Portland
• Essay on Brecht, Okigbo, Derrida and Foucault
• Brechts Werke, Bibliography