Bertolt Brecht - Education Scotland

More documents

Recommendations

Info

10 THE TOP TEN Bartram, Graham, and Waine, Anthony (eds.), Brecht in Perspective, London: Longman, 1982 A collection of essays aimed at an undergraduate audience though this should not put off an Advanced Higher student with a developing understanding of, and interest in, Brecht. It is undoubtedly a first-rate buy. The second section of the book is certainly the most productive. It handles the theatrical practice from its social and artistic complexities through to looking at the comparable and diverging methods used by the century’s two foremost theatrical theorists and practitioners – Brecht and Stanislavski. This latter chapter is by Margaret Eddershaw (see page 6) and should be a key text for directing options at Advanced Higher. A succinct chapter on Brecht’s great inspiration, Piscator, follows, examining their theatrical, political and personal relationship. This leads to a super essay, ‘Brecht and Cabaret’, which is detailed, informative and revealing as regards Brecht’s debt to this form of popular entertainment: a debt which runs through the development of Gestus, Verfremdung, use of music, staging, narrative structure and anti-naturalist presentational styles. As might be expected, the first section of the book treats the social, political, historical and artistic background from which Brecht sprang. There is a very good chapter on Epic theatre and a vital essay on comedy which examines Brecht’s insistence on Spass (fun) in the theatre. The book ends with a retrospective on Brecht’s legacy, both on Germanspeaking theatre and English theatre (unfortunately it is specifically English theatre and not British theatre). Like all the texts in this Top Ten which look at Brecht’s influence on theatre today, this is particularly important when students grapple with the demands of Outcome 2: ‘Explore the influence of two leading 20th-century theatre practitioners on current theatre practice’. Sacks, Glendyr, and Thomson, Peter (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Brecht, Cambridge: CUP, 1994 This is an extremely good companion, in the Top Ten due to its breadth and contemporaneity. Part of its strength is the mixture of contributions, ranging from both the academic sector’s view and the theatre practitioner’s angle. Again, all elements of Brecht’s life and work are covered, giving insights into the plays, the practice and the politics. One of the most interesting aspects of this book is how individual plays are picked up and examined in some detail. This makes it a useful tool for students taking as broad a sweep as possible through Brecht’s practice. DRAMA
THE TOP TEN As one might expect, the book opens with a trawl through the historical, political, social, theatrical, artistic background out of which emerged Brecht the dramatist, poet, novelist, director and polemicist. A series of plays then come under the microscope, followed by essays on directing, theatrical theory, collaboration and acting. The book closes with, again, a good look (for the purposes of Outcome 2) at Brecht’s legacy to theatre and how modern practitioners have been influenced by him. Peter Brooker’s chapter ‘Key words in Brecht’s theory and practice of theatre’ is worth highlighting. Its glossary of key words is crystal clear and provides a good starting point for students. Another vital text for the course focusing on both practical and theoretical issues. Ewen, Frederick, Bertolt Brecht: His Life, His Art, His Times, New York: Citadel Press, Carol Publishing, reissued 1992 This is a mighty tome, a biography that is sympathetic to Brecht the man, the theatre practitioner and the political thinker. There should be at least one biography in the Top Ten, and this one outshines Klaus Völker’s (see page 36) due to its depth, broad scope and understanding of how central the theatre was to Brecht. Many of this book’s critics complain that it is a little cold, a little remote; that it concentrates on the work rather than the life of the man. The same critics tend also to complain when a study ignores the work at the expense of the man. What this biography does, and at some length, is make the very crucial connection between the two. The work was the means by which Brecht identified himself and sought to change the world. This is a thorough, painstaking and revealing biography. It covers everything: from his early days as a pseudo-dandified cabaret act, through the political radicalism of the Lehrstücke, to Epic and beyond; from the ravaged Europe of the post-1914–18 war, to the rise of Hitler’s Nazism in Europe, out to Hollywood and finally his triumphant return to East Berlin. Chapter VIII, ‘In Quest of Identity: The Road to the Epic Theatre’, paints a vivid picture of the cultural, political and artistic vibrancy and turbulence which marked the dying embers of Expressionism and the beginning of the ‘new objectivity’ (Neue Sachlichkeit). DRAMA 11
Page 1 and 2: INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Bertolt B
Page 3 and 4: INTRODUCTION information on CDs and
Page 5 and 6: SECTION 1 THE TOP TEN Most departme
Page 7 and 8: THE TOP TEN It is an important dist
Page 9: THE TOP TEN Needle and Thomson are
Page 13 and 14: THE TOP TEN Jackson’s usual hones
Page 15 and 16: SECTION 2 WORKS BY BERTOLT BRECHT M
Page 17 and 18: WORKS BY BERTOLT BRECHT The current
Page 19 and 20: SECTION 3 THE WORLD WIDE WEB One of
Page 21 and 22: Ensemble produced both Drums in the
Page 23 and 24: Recordings THE WORLD WIDE WEB Many
Page 25 and 26: SECTION 4 CRITICAL STUDIES Bate, J,
Page 27 and 28: CRITICAL STUDIES Calandra, D, Germa
Page 29 and 30: CRITICAL STUDIES the kind, of cours
Page 31 and 32: CRITICAL STUDIES conventions, etc.
Page 33 and 34: CRITICAL STUDIES discuss a 1979 pro
Page 35 and 36: CRITICAL STUDIES Sebald, W G (ed.),
Page 37 and 38: CRITICAL STUDIES There is also an e

Bertolt Brecht - Education Scotland

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?