Bertolt Brecht - Education Scotland

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26 CRITICAL STUDIES Boal’s work with the working classes is designed to revolutionise society by giving them the means to overthrow their oppressors. Perhaps his most radical theatrical move has been in the area of actor-audience relationship: for Boal, the desire is for everybody to become ‘spect-actors’. Arguably the most important book published in political theatre theory and practice since Brecht. (A new, revised edition of this book is due for publication in June 2000, also published by Pluto Press.) Boal, A, Games for Actors and Non-Actors, trans. Jackson, A, London: Routledge, 1992 A brilliant book with practical games and theoretical justifications for actors, both professional and amateur. All the work is geared to follow Boal’s fundamental premise, that theatre is a functional, social tool, able to liberate the minds and bodies of the people from oppression. Boal, A, The Rainbow of Desire: The Boal Method of Theatre and Therapy, trans. Jackson, A, London: Routledge, 1995 Another book of exercises, explanations and justifications for the way Boal uses theatre as a social device. Boal’s work is more starkly aimed at the sociobehavioural end of the artistic process in this book, though whether it was anything other than this is open to debate. Bradbury, M, and McFarlane, J, Modernism: 1890–1930, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976 With claims rife for Brecht’s proto-postmodernism, it may be interesting to discover just where the original claims for his being a modernist came from. Martin Esslin’s essay, ‘Modernist Drama: Wedekind to Brecht’, will put this into sharp focus. Brooker, Peter (ed.), Bertolt Brecht: Dialectics, Poetry, Politics, London and New York: Croom Helm, 1988 Good on the relationship between politics and theory and practice. Bull, J, New British Political Dramatists, London: Macmillan, 1984 Another in the very good Macmillan Modern Dramatists series. Brenton, Hare, Griffiths and Edgar come in for the most acute analysis, but there is much more than that in this very good survey of the topic, that serves to illustrate how the British used practitioners like Brecht in their own work. DRAMA
CRITICAL STUDIES Calandra, D, German Dramatists, London: Macmillan, 1983 Contains a survey of modern dramatic writing in German, such as Heiner Muller, Peter Handke, Franz Xaver Kroetz and Botho Strauss. It is interesting in its own right, of course, but the more so due to the insights it gives into how these dramatists have been influenced by Brecht. They have both taken him further and reacted against his theory and practice – in some cases (e.g. Kroetz) they have done both of these things. There are interesting theoretical comparisons (Heiner Muller’s ‘learning play’ Mauser (1970) and The Measure’s Taken, one of Brecht’s most celebrated Lehrstücke) and practical influences on staging and design (Thomas Brasch’s Rotter, A German Fairy Tale and Brecht’s own production of Man is Man). Cooper, S, and Mackey, S, Theatre Studies: An Approach for Advanced Level, Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes, 1996 A very useful textbook indeed, examining theatrical meaning, the process of presentation, historical context, textual analysis and contemporary productions. Part 4 is of special interest to students of Brecht, containing a chronology of his life, a biography, an excellent survey of the plays through their performance and Brecht’s theoretical developments (section 4.4.3 ‘Theory and Practice’, pp292–309), influences and followers, and a reasonably interesting essay question with a guideline to its answering. This final page of the Brecht chapter is only ‘reasonable’ because the ‘advanced’ of the title is the A-Level in England. The textbook has been written for English qualifications, rather than Scottish awards, and is therefore very specific. Other than this aspect, though, it is still a very good buy. Counsell, Colin, Signs of Performance: An Introduction to Twentieth-Century Theatre, London: Routledge, 1996 Chapter 3, ‘Brecht and Epic Theatre’, places Brecht in a modernist role and gives a good survey of his influences and work. (The book also has chapters on Stanislavski and Brook.) Craig, S (ed.), Dreams and Deconstructions: alternative theatre in Britain, Ambergate: Amber Lane Press, 1980 A thoroughly entertaining and well-illustrated book on the frantic theatrical activity of 70s Britain. From the influences of Brecht on political theatre to the fringe, community theatre, theatre-in-education, writers and performance art. DRAMA 27
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Page 11 and 12: THE TOP TEN As one might expect, th
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
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Page 25: SECTION 4 CRITICAL STUDIES Bate, J,
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Page 31 and 32: CRITICAL STUDIES conventions, etc.
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