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SECTION 4 CRITICAL STUDIES Bate, J, and Jackson, R (eds.), Shakespeare: An Illustrated Stage History, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996 In Inga-Stina Ewbanks’s ‘European Cross-Currents’ there is a short section on <strong>Brecht</strong>’s Shakespearean influences and his struggle to adapt and stage Coriolanus (and a good photograph from the Berliner Ensemble’s 1964 production Coriolan – Fig 59, p136). Benjamin, W, Understanding <strong>Brecht</strong>, London: Verso, 1973 This is very definitely a book for connoisseurs. The opening chapters, ‘What is Epic Theatre?’ are certainly worth a read but perhaps only after having been introduced to this concept in other, less florid, books. The closing chapter, ‘Conversations with <strong>Brecht</strong>’, has to be read to be believed. Bessell, R (et al), Literature and History: A319 (Block 08), Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1991 An extremely good chapter on <strong>Brecht</strong> and Mother Courage that poses many questions about the role of the artist in society and the importance of history and politics in literature and drama. Boa, E, The Sexual Circus: Wedekind’s theatre of subversion, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987 Of particular use is Chapter 9 ‘Wedekind and Modern Theatre’ (pp212–227), in which Boa draws parallels, comparisons and contrasts between the work of Wedekind and <strong>Brecht</strong> (Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Good Woman of Sezuan, Mann ist Mann, Mother Courage). It focuses also on <strong>Brecht</strong>’s theatrical effects. Worth a read, though it is designed for more advanced, undergraduate study. Boal, A, Theatre of the Oppressed, trans. Charles A & Maria-Odilia Leal McBride, London: Pluto Press, 1979 If ever there was a theatrical practitioner of whom you could say, ‘this could be the son of <strong>Brecht</strong>’, then Augusto Boal is your man. Boal, a Brazilian who worked originally in Latin America and now is based in both Rio de Janeiro and Paris, has taken theatre as a tool for social change to areas <strong>Brecht</strong> could only have dreamed about. He takes <strong>Brecht</strong>’s political commitment, theory and practice further and, one could argue, in more radical directions than one suspects <strong>Brecht</strong> might have done due to his nonreliance on literary forms and the theatrical conventions of actor, script and venue. DRAMA 25