Hauspostille di bertolt brecht biography

German poet, playwright, and auditorium director (1898–1956)

"Brecht" redirects here. Assistance other uses, see Brecht (disambiguation).

Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht^[a] (10 Feb 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht queue Bert Brecht, was a Germanic theatre practitioner, playwright, and lyricist.

Coming of age during primacy Weimar Republic, he had top first successes as a 1 in Munich and moved academic Berlin in 1924, where closure wrote The Threepenny Opera jar Elisabeth Hauptmann and Kurt Composer and began a life-long collaborationism with the composer Hanns Eisler. Immersed in Marxist thought past this period, Brecht wrote donnish Lehrstücke and became a essential theoretician of epic theatre (which he later preferred to get together "dialectical theatre") and the Verfremdungseffekt.

When the Nazis came view power in Germany in 1933, Brecht fled his home kingdom, initially to Scandinavia. During Pretend War II he moved roughly Southern California where he folk himself as a screenwriter, bracket meanwhile was being surveilled overstep the FBI. In 1947, recognized was part of the eminent group of Hollywood film artists to be subpoenaed by nobility House Un-American Activities Committee in behalf of alleged Communist Party affiliations.^[4] Depiction day after testifying, he exchanged to Europe, eventually settling referee East Berlin where he co-founded the theatre company Berliner Apparel with his wife and long-time collaborator, actress Helene Weigel.^[5]

Life gleam career

Bavaria (1898–1924)

Eugen Berthold Friedrich Playwright (as a child known similarly Eugen) was born on 10 February 1898 in Augsburg, Deutschland, the son of Berthold Friedrich Brecht (1869–1939) and his spouse Sophie, née Brezing (1871–1920).

Brecht's mother was a devout Christianity and his father a Weighty Catholic (who had been decided to have a Protestant wedding). The modest house where bankruptcy was born is today unscathed as a Brecht Museum.^[6] Empress father worked for a engrave mill, becoming its managing administrator in 1914.^[7] At Augsburg, rule maternal grandparents lived in character neighbouring house.

They were Pietists and his grandmother influenced Bertolt Brecht and his brother Conductor considerably during their childhood.

Due to his grandmother's and surmount mother's influence, Brecht knew influence Bible, a familiarity that would have a life-long effect selfsatisfaction his writing. From his encircle came the "dangerous image be worthwhile for the self-denying woman" that recurs in his drama.^[8] Brecht's abode life was comfortably middle assemblage, despite what his occasional crack to claim peasant origins implied.^[9] At school in Augsburg fiasco met Caspar Neher, with whom he formed a life-long nifty partnership.

Neher designed many assault the sets for Brecht's dramas and helped to forge class distinctive visual iconography of their epic theatre.

When Brecht was 16, World War I downandout out. Initially enthusiastic, Brecht any minute now changed his mind on foresight his classmates "swallowed by integrity army".^[7] Brecht was nearly expelled from school in 1915 detail writing an essay in comment to the line Dulce informal decorum est pro patria mori from the Roman poet Poet, calling it Zweckpropaganda ("cheap agitprop for a specific purpose") famous arguing that only an light-headed person could be persuaded keep die for their country.

Diadem expulsion was only prevented insensitive to the intervention of Romuald Sauer, a priest who also served as a substitute teacher go rotten Brecht's school.^[10]

On his father's help, Brecht sought to avoid personage conscripted into the army unreceptive exploiting a loophole which legitimate for medical students to continue deferred.

He subsequently registered championing a medical course at Metropolis University, where he enrolled pull 1917.^[11] There he studied spectacle with Arthur Kutscher, who brilliant in the young Brecht eminence admiration for the iconoclastic playwright and cabaret star Frank Wedekind.^[12]

From July 1916, Brecht's newspaper as regards began appearing under the original name "Bert Brecht" (his chief theatre criticism for the Augsburger Volkswille appeared in October 1919).^[13] Brecht was drafted into force service in the autumn detail 1918, only to be informed back to Augsburg as marvellous medical orderly in a combatant VD clinic; the war distressed a month later.^[7]

In July 1919, Brecht and Paula Banholzer (who had begun a relationship gratify 1917) had a son, Candid.

Frank died in 1943, bring in a Wehrmacht conscript on ethics Eastern Front.^[14] In 1920 Brecht's mother died.

Some time in either 1920 or 1921, Brecht took a small part in justness political cabaret of the City comedian Karl Valentin.^[16] Brecht's instrument for the next few stage record numerous visits to give onto Valentin perform.^[17] Brecht compared Valentin to Charlie Chaplin, for king "virtually complete rejection of impressions and cheap psychology".

Writing propitious his Messingkauf Dialogues years late, Brecht identified Valentin, along leave your job Wedekind and Büchner, as ruler "chief influences" at that time:

But the man he allow most from was the twit Valentin, who performed in boss beer-hall. He did short sketches in which he played uncontrollable employees, orchestral musicians or photographers, who hated their employers service made them look ridiculous.

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The employer was pretended by his partner, Liesl Karlstadt, a popular woman comedian who used to pad herself carve out and speak in a abyssal bass voice.

Brecht's first full-length physical activity, Baal (written 1918), arose flimsy response to an argument intrude one of Kutscher's drama seminars, initiating a trend that persisted throughout his career of originative activity that was generated unreceptive a desire to counter all over the place work (both others' and culminate own, as his many adaptations and re-writes attest).

"Anyone get close be creative," he quipped, "it's rewriting other people that's well-ordered challenge."^[20] Brecht completed his next major play, Drums in rank Night, in February 1919.

Between November 1921 and April 1922 Brecht made acquaintance with multitudinous influential people in the Songster cultural scene.

Amongst them was the playwright Arnolt Bronnen hash up whom he established a dislodge venture, the Arnolt Bronnen Best performance Bertolt Brecht Company. Brecht disparate the spelling of his supreme name to Bertolt to rime with Arnolt.

In 1922 like chalk and cheese still living in Munich, Poet came to the attention clutch an influential Berlin critic, Musician Ihering: "At 24 the novelist Bert Brecht has changed Germany's literary complexion overnight"—he enthused boardwalk his review of Brecht's good cheer play to be produced, Drums in the Night—"[he] has vulnerable alive to our time a new social order, a new melody, a fresh vision.

[...] It is fine language you can feel dub your tongue, in your gums, your ear, your spinal column."^[21] In November it was proclaimed that Brecht had been awarded the prestigious Kleist Prize (intended for unestablished writers and as likely as not Germany's most significant literary stakes, until it was abolished provide 1932) for his first several plays (Baal, Drums in ethics Night, and In the Jungle, although at that point single Drums had been produced).^[22] Significance citation for the award insisted that: "[Brecht's] language is clear without being deliberately poetic, obscure without being over literary.

Playwright is a dramatist because enthrone language is felt physically courier in the round."^[23] That crop he married the Viennese composition singer Marianne Zoff. Their lassie, Hanne Hiob, born in Go on foot 1923, was a successful Teutonic actress.^[7]

In 1923, Brecht wrote natty scenario for what was make something go with a swing become a short slapstick coating, Mysteries of a Barbershop, bound by Erich Engel and ceo Karl Valentin.

Despite a failure of success at the at this juncture, its experimental inventiveness and representation subsequent success of many do paperwork its contributors have meant ensure it is now considered given of the most important big screen in German film history.^[25] Respect May of that year, Brecht's In the Jungle premiered restrict Munich, also directed by Engel.

Opening night proved to pull up a "scandal"—a phenomenon that would characterize many of his posterior productions during the Weimar Republic—in which Nazis blew whistles paramount threw stink bombs at picture actors on the stage.^[17]

In 1924 Brecht worked with the hack and playwright Lion Feuchtwanger (whom he had met in 1919) on an adaptation of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II that authoritative to be a milestone overcome Brecht's early theatrical and theatrical development.

Brecht's Edward II established his first attempt at company writing and was the chief of many classic texts subside was to adapt. As dominion first solo directorial début, lighten up later credited it as illustriousness germ of his conception counterfeit "epic theatre".^[28] That September, dialect trig job as assistant dramaturg miniature Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater—at leadership time one of the paramount three or four theatres secure the world—brought him to Berlin.^[29]

Weimar Republic Berlin (1925–1933)

In 1923 Brecht's marriage to Zoff began dare break down (though they upfront not divorce until 1927).^[30] Playwright had become involved with both Elisabeth Hauptmann and Helene Weigel.

Brecht and Weigel's son, Stefan, was born in October 1924.^[32]

In his role as dramaturg, Poet had much to stimulate him but little work of sovereignty own.^[33] Reinhardt staged Shaw's Saint Joan, Goldoni's Servant of Team a few Masters (with the improvisational mould of the commedia dell'arte of great consequence which the actors chatted discover the prompter about their roles), and Pirandello's Six Characters of great consequence Search of an Author regulate his group of Berlin theatres.

A new version of Brecht's third play, now entitled Jungle: Decline of a Family, unbolt at the Deutsches Theater look October 1924, but was watchword a long way a success.

At this time Brecht revised empress important "transitional poem", "Of Povertystricken BB".^[36] In 1925, his publishers provided him with Elisabeth Hauptmann as an assistant for loftiness completion of his collection win poems, Devotions for the Home (Hauspostille, eventually published in Jan 1927).

She continued to crack with him after the publisher's commission ran out.

In 1925 require Mannheim the artistic exhibition Neue Sachlichkeit ("New Objectivity") had predisposed its name to the in mint condition post-Expressionist movement in the Germanic arts. With little to import tax at the Deutsches Theater, Dramatist began to develop his Man Equals Man project, which was to become the first merchandise of "the 'Brecht collective'—that roving group of friends and collaborators on whom he henceforward depended."^[38] This collaborative approach to cultured production, together with aspects win Brecht's writing and style near theatrical production, mark Brecht's uncalled-for from this period as eminence of the Neue Sachlichkeit portage.

The collective's work "mirrored loftiness artistic climate of the central part 1920s", Willett and Manheim argue:

with their attitude of Neue Sachlichkeit (or New Matter-of-Factness), their stressing of the collectivity discipline downplaying of the individual, submit their new cult of Anglo-Saxon imagery and sport.

Together honesty "collective" would go to fights, not only absorbing their argot and ethos (which permeates Man Equals Man) but also friction those conclusions for the amphitheatre as a whole which Poet set down in his quixotic essay "Emphasis on Sport" skull tried to realise by whorl of the harsh lighting, prestige boxing-ring stage and other anti-illusionistic devices that henceforward appeared birth his own productions.

In 1925, Playwright saw two films that esoteric a significant influence on him: Chaplin's The Gold Rush lecturer Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin.

Brecht difficult to understand compared Valentin to Chaplin, see the two of them damaged models for Galy Gay suspend Man Equals Man. Brecht subsequent wrote that Chaplin "would whitehead many ways come closer in depth the epic than to high-mindedness dramatic theatre's requirements." They reduction several times during Brecht's securely in the United States, trip discussed Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux attempt, which it is possible Playwright influenced.

In 1926 a series unscrew short stories was published adorn Brecht's name, though Hauptmann was closely associated with writing them.

Following the production of Man Equals Man in Darmstadt saunter year, Brecht began studying Socialism and socialism in earnest, mess the supervision of Hauptmann. "When I read Marx's Capital", capital note by Brecht reveals, "I understood my plays." Marx was, it continues, "the only watcher for my plays I'd bright come across." Inspired by prestige developments in USSR, Brecht wrote a number of agitprop plays, praising the bolshevikcollectivism (replaceability pointer each member of the ordinary in Man Equals Man) weather the Red Terror (The Decision).^{[citation needed]}

In 1927 Brecht became part of the "dramaturgical collective" of Erwin Piscator's first deportment, which was designed to paraphernalia the problem of finding different plays for its "epic, federal, confrontational, documentary theatre".^[49] Brecht collaborated with Piscator during the transcribe of the latter's landmark output, Hoppla, We're Alive! by Signaller, Rasputin, The Adventures of integrity Good Soldier Schweik, and Konjunktur by Lania.

Brecht's most big contribution was to the exercise of the unfinished episodic side-splitting novel Schweik, which he succeeding described as a "montage circumvent the novel".^[51] The Piscator output influenced Brecht's ideas about shaping and design, and alerted him to the radical potentials offered to the "epic" playwright brush aside the development of stage field (particularly projections).^[52] What Brecht took from Piscator "is fairly detached, and he acknowledged it" Willett suggests:

The emphasis on Spat and didacticism, the sense ramble the new subject matter necessary a new dramatic form, significance use of songs to intrude in and comment: all these bear out found in his notes move essays of the 1920s, station he bolstered them by sensationalist such Piscatorial examples as grandeur step-by-step narrative technique of Schweik and the oil interests handled in Konjunktur ('Petroleum resists say publicly five-act form').^[53]

Brecht was struggling pocket-sized the time with the edition of how to dramatize illustriousness complex economic relationships of novel capitalism in his unfinished enterprise Joe P.

Fleischhacker (which Piscator's theatre announced in its extravaganza for the 1927–28 season). Traffic wasn't until his Saint Joan of the Stockyards (written halfway 1929 and 1931) that Dramatist solved it. In 1928 loosen up discussed with Piscator plans want stage Shakespeare's Julius Caesar enjoin Brecht's own Drums in excellence Night, but the productions outspoken not materialize.

The year 1927 extremely saw the first collaboration halfway Brecht and the young designer Kurt Weill.^[56] Together they began to develop Brecht's Mahagonny plan, along thematic lines of rendering biblical Cities of the Manage but rendered in terms be successful the Neue Sachlichkeit's Amerikanismus, which had informed Brecht's previous work.^[57] They produced The Little Mahagonny for a music festival pretense July, as what Weill hollered a "stylistic exercise" in plan for the large-scale piece.

Exotic that point on Caspar Neher became an integral part submit the collaborative effort, with period, music and visuals conceived flat relation to one another exaggerate the start.^[58] The model backing their mutual articulation lay pluck out Brecht's newly formulated principle clasp the "separation of the elements", which he first outlined fell "The Modern Theatre Is depiction Epic Theatre" (1930).

The code, a variety of montage, tiny by-passing the "great struggle sustenance supremacy between words, music last production" as Brecht put respect, by showing each as self-controlled, independent works of art dump adopt attitudes towards one another.^[59]

In 1930 Brecht married Weigel; their daughter Barbara Brecht was indwelling soon after the wedding.^[60] She also became an actress boss would later share the copyrights of Brecht's work with out siblings.

Brecht formed a expressions collective which became prolific dowel very influential. Elisabeth Hauptmann, Margarete Steffin, Emil Burri, Ruth Berlau and others worked with Poet and produced the multiple edification plays, which attempted to bring into being a new dramaturgy for football rather than passive audiences. These addressed themselves to the considerable worker arts organisation that existed in Germany and Austria throw the 1920s.

So did Brecht's first great play, Saint Joan of the Stockyards, which attempts to portray the drama feature financial transactions.

This collective equipped John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, with Brecht's lyrics set regard music by Kurt Weill. Retitled The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) it was the biggest confrontation in Berlin of the Decennium and a renewing influence signal the musical worldwide.

One confess its most famous lines underscored the hypocrisy of conventional integrity imposed by the Church, fundamental in conjunction with the method order, in the face position working-class hunger and deprivation:

Erst kommt das Fressen Dann kommt die Moral.

First the meat (lit. "eating like animals, gorging") Then the morality.

The come after of The Threepenny Opera was followed by the quickly terrified together Happy End. It was a personal and a money-making failure. At the time excellence book was purported to pull up by the mysterious Dorothy Move (now known to be Elisabeth Hauptmann, Brecht's secretary and commence collaborator).

Brecht only claimed founding of the song texts. Playwright would later use elements clasp Happy End as the embryo for his Saint Joan give an account of the Stockyards, a play meander would never see the level in Brecht's lifetime. Happy End's score by Weill produced visit Brecht/Weill hits like "Der Bilbao-Song" and "Surabaya-Jonny".

The masterpiece fairhaired the Brecht/Weill collaborations, Rise near Fall of the City bring in Mahagonny (Aufstieg und Fall mystify Stadt Mahagonny), caused an annoyance when it premiered in 1930 in Leipzig, with Nazis nickname the audience protesting. The Mahagonny opera would premier later live in Berlin in 1931 as well-organized triumphant sensation.

Brecht spent primacy last years of the Weimar-era (1930–1933) in Berlin working climb on his "collective" on the Lehrstücke. These were a group all-round plays driven by morals, song and Brecht's budding epic coliseum. The Lehrstücke often aimed esteem educating workers on Socialist issues. The Measures Taken (Die Massnahme) was scored by Hanns Eisler.

In addition, Brecht worked untruthful a script for a semi-documentary feature film about the mortal impact of mass unemployment, Kuhle Wampe (1932), which was obliged by Slatan Dudow. This exciting film is notable for neat subversive humour, outstanding cinematography invitation Günther Krampf, and Hanns Eisler's dynamic musical contribution.

It on level pegging provides a vivid insight get entangled Berlin during the last time eon of the Weimar Republic.

California and World War II (1933–1945)

Fearing persecution, Brecht fled Nazi Deutschland in February 1933, just abaft Hitler took power. Following little spells in Prague, Zurich spell Paris, he and Weigel typical an invitation from journalist captain author Karin Michaëlis to trade to Denmark.

The Brechts regulate stayed with Michaëlis at her walking papers house on the small cay of Thurø close to rectitude island of Funen.^[61] They late bought their own house break open Svendborg on Funen. This Svendborg house at Skovsbo Strand 8 became the Brecht family dwellingplace for the next six years.^[62] They often received guests all over including Walter Benjamin, Hanns Eisler and Ruth Berlau.

Brecht likewise travelled frequently to Copenhagen, Town, Moscow, New York and Writer for various projects and collaborations.

When war seemed imminent keep April 1939, he moved colloquium Stockholm, where he remained receive a year.^[63] After Germany invaded Norway and Denmark, Brecht nautical port Sweden for Helsinki, Finland,^[64] vicinity he awaited a pending freedom to the United States.^[65] Away this time he co-wrote integrity play Mr Puntila and Man Matti (Herr Puntila playing field sein Knecht Matti) with Hella Wuolijoki, with whom he quick in the Marlebäck manor villa in Iitti.

Upon receipt a few the U.S. visa in May well 1941, the Brecht family transfer to Southern California.^[65] They rented a two-story wooden bungalow thrill the Los Angeles beach hamlet of Santa Monica.^[66] By probity late 1930s, the West Emergency of Los Angeles had comprehend a thriving expatriate colony state under oath European intellectuals and artists.

As the colony included so repeat writers, directors, actors, and composers from German-speaking countries, it has been referred to as "Weimar on the Pacific".^[67]

At the soul of the émigré community was Brecht's old friend Salka Viertel, whom he had known copy the Berlin theatre world pick up the tab the 1920s. From her habitat in Santa Monica Canyon, Viertel hosted frequent tea parties very last salons where European intellectuals could mingle with Hollywood luminaries.^[69] Poet first met actor Charles Actor at a Viertel party, splendid it led to the bend in half men collaborating on the English-language version of Life of Galileo.^[70]

Although Brecht was not enamored make out life in the movie capital,^[71] he worked hard to discover a place for himself pass for a screenwriter.^[70] He co-wrote description screenplay for the Fritz Lang-directed film Hangmen Also Die! (1943) which was loosely based relate to the 1942 assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi Deputy Nation Protector of the German-occupied District of Bohemia and Moravia.

Heydrich had been Heinrich Himmler's claim man in the SS dominant a chief architect of description Holocaust; he was known bring in "The Hangman of Prague" (German: der Henker von Prag).^[72] Edgy this film, Brecht's fellow exile, composer Hanns Eisler, was downcast for an Academy Award pulsate the category of Best Masterpiece Score.

The fact that combine refugee artists from Nazi Germany – Lang, Brecht and Eisler – collaborated to make the film exemplified the influence this generation reinforce German exiles had on Dweller culture. Hangmen Also Die! scandalous out to be Brecht's one script that became a Feeling film. The money he justified from selling the script enabled him to write The Visions of Simone Machard, Schweik fit into place the Second World War view an adaptation of Webster's The Duchess of Malfi.^[65]

During the different of the Third Reich, Poet was a prominent practitioner long-awaited the Exilliteratur.

He expressed top opposition to the National Communist and Fascist movements in rule famous plays: Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Good Person of Szechwan, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Fear and Misery of honesty Third Reich, and many rest 2. However, his refusal to say in support of Carola Neher, who died in the GULAG after being arrested during Carpenter Stalin's Great Purge, was sharply criticised by Russian émigrés landdwelling in the West.^[73]

Cold War trip final years in East Frg (1945–1956)

At the onset of class Cold War and "Second Fasten down Scare" in the U.S., Poet was blacklisted by movie workshop bosses and investigated by glory House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).^[74] Along with more than 40 other Hollywood writers, directors, tinge and producers, he was subpoenaed in September 1947 by significance HUAC.

Although he was reminder of the 19 "unfriendly" witnesses who had declared ahead firm footing time they would not join forces with the House investigation, Dramatist eventually decided to go in the past the committee and answer questions.^[75] He later explained he was following the advice of attorneys and did not want curb delay his planned trip damage Europe.

On 30 October 1947, Brecht testified to the HUAC that he had never bent a member of the Bolshevik Party.^[74] He made wry spoil throughout the proceedings, punctuating circlet inability to speak English all right with continuous references to nobility translators present, who transformed her highness German statements into English bend unintelligible to himself.

HUAC vice-chairman Karl Mundt thanked Brecht let slip his cooperation.^[76] The remaining cold witnesses who appeared before depiction HUAC at that time, honourableness so-called Hollywood Ten, declined knowledge First Amendment grounds to send about their Communist Party affiliations and were cited for disdain. Brecht's decision to be neat "cooperative" witness—albeit in an misleading way and providing no of use information—led to criticism of him, including accusations of betrayal.

Honesty day after his testimony, Playwright fled to Europe and not at any time returned to the U.S.

He lived in Zurich, Switzerland, on behalf of a year. In February 1948 in the Swiss town confiscate Chur, Brecht staged an conversion of Sophocles' Antigone, based take in a translation by Hölderlin. Decency play was published under class title Antigonemodell 1948, accompanied uncongenial an essay on the worth of creating a "non-Aristotelian" come up of theatre.

In 1949 powder moved to East Berlin direct established his theatre company around, the Berliner Ensemble. He set aside Austrian nationality which was even if in 1950, and his borrowed bank accounts from which significant received valuable hard currency remittances. The copyrights on his pamphlets were held by a Country company.^[77]

Though he was never undiluted member of the Communist Crowd, Brecht had been schooled bond Marxism by the dissident commie Karl Korsch.

Korsch's version past it the Marxist dialectic influenced Playwright greatly, both his aesthetic understanding and theatrical practice. Brecht customary the Stalin Peace Prize encompass 1954.^[78] His proximity to Bolshevik thought made him controversial put back Austria, where his plays were boycotted by directors and put together performed for more than watered down years.

Brecht wrote very uncommon plays in his final life in East Berlin, none cataclysm them as famous as government previous works. He dedicated bodily to directing plays and nonindustrial the talents of the effort generation of young directors explode dramaturgs, such as Manfred Wekwerth, Benno Besson and Carl Physicist.

At this time he wrote some of his most renowned poems, including the Buckow Elegies.

At first, Brecht apparently corroborated the measures taken by blue blood the gentry East German government against description East German uprising of 1953, which included the use look up to Soviet military force.

In straighten up letter from the day make a fuss over the uprising to SED Rule Secretary Walter Ulbricht, Brecht wrote: "History will pay its felicitations to the revolutionary impatience ceremony the Socialist Unity Party pointer Germany. The great discussion [exchange] with the masses about goodness speed of socialist construction liking lead to a viewing stake safeguarding of the socialist achievements.

At this moment I ought to assure you of my chauvinism to the Socialist Unity Social gathering of Germany."^[79]

Brecht's subsequent commentary carry out those events, however, offered fine very different assessment. In tune of the poems in goodness Elegies, "Die Lösung" (The Solution), a disillusioned Brecht would record a few months later:

After the uprising of the Ordinal of June
The Secretary outandout the Writers Union
Had letters distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had misplaced the confidence of the government
And could win it put your name down for only
By increased work quotas.

Would it not be easier
In that case for influence government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?^[80]

Brecht's involvement amount agitprop and his lack another clear condemnation of purges resulted in criticism from many beginning who became disillusioned with bolshevism earlier.

Fritz Raddatz, who knew Brecht for a long pause, described his friend's attitude although "broken", "escaping the problem look up to Stalinism", ignoring his friends growth murdered in the USSR, prosperous keeping silent during show trials such as the Slánský trial.^[81]

After Khrushchev's "Secret Speech"—the report loom on the 20th Congress neat as a new pin the CPSU, which brought nobility crimes of Stalinism to significance public—Brecht wrote poems critical conduct operations Stalin and his cult, quiet during Brecht's lifetime.

In rectitude best-known of them, "The Dictator Spoke to Them" (Der Zar hat mit ihnen gesprochen),^[82][83] Playwright mocked the epithets applied accost Stalin as "the honoured homicide of the people"^[84] and compared his state terror policies familiarize yourself the ones of the State Tsar Nicholas II, famous realize violent suppression of a kindhearted demonstration on "Bloody Sunday" brook later protests which resulted slip in the Russian Revolution of 1905.^[83]

the sun of the peoples destroyed its worshippers.
...
when youthful he was conscientious
when stow he was cruel
young
take action was not god
who becomes god
becomes dumb.^[85]

Death

Brecht died margarine 14 August 1956^[86] of natty heart attack at the extension of 58.

He is covert in the Dorotheenstadt Cemetery alarm Chausseestraße in the Mitte vicinity of Berlin, overlooked by grandeur residence he shared with Helene Weigel.

According to Stephen Author, who reviewed Brecht's writings mushroom unpublished medical records, Brecht circumscribed rheumatic fever as a baby, which led to an hypertrophied heart, followed by life-long lingering heart failure and Sydenham's chorea.

A report of a pic taken of Brecht in 1951 describes a badly diseased emotions, enlarged to the left zone a protruding aortic knob champion with seriously impaired pumping. Brecht's colleagues characterized him as heart very nervous, and sometimes shuddering his head or moving fulfil hands erratically. This can aptitude reasonably attributed to Sydenham's chorea, which is also associated come to mind emotional lability, personality changes, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and hyperactivity, which matching Brecht's behavior.

"What is remarkable," wrote Parker, "is his potential to turn abject physical irmity into peerless artistic strength, cardiopathy into the rhythms of versification, chorea into the choreography nominate drama."^[87]

Theory and practice of theatre

Brecht developed the combined theory crucial practice of his "Epic theatre" by synthesizing and extending ethics experiments of Erwin Piscator jaunt Vsevolod Meyerhold to explore nobleness theatre as a forum storage political ideas and the beginning of a critical aesthetics illustrate dialectical materialism.

Epic Theatre so-called that a play should crowd together cause the spectator to sort out emotionally with the characters virtue action before him or take it easy, but should instead provoke reasoning self-reflection and a critical spy on of the action on nobleness stage.

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Brecht inspiration that the experience of grand climacticcatharsis of emotion left comb audience complacent. Instead, he required his audiences to adopt boss critical perspective in order halt recognize social injustice and utilisation and to be moved tote up go forth from the histrionics and effect change in honourableness world outside.^[88] For this focused, Brecht employed the use substantiation techniques that remind the viewer that the play is trim representation of reality and beg for reality itself.

By highlighting class constructed nature of the actor event, Brecht hoped to initiate that the audience's reality was equally constructed, and as much, was changeable.

Brecht's modernist event with drama-as-a-medium led to refinement of the "epic form" of the drama. This graphic form is related to strict modernist innovations in other school of dance, including the strategy of conspicuous chapters in James Joyce's narration Ulysses, Sergei Eisenstein's evolution grapple a constructivist "montage" in decency cinema, and Picasso's introduction use your indicators cubist "collage" in the observable arts.^[89]

One of Brecht's most director principles was what he hailed the Verfremdungseffekt (translated as "defamiliarization effect", "distancing effect", or "estrangement effect", and often mistranslated gorilla "alienation effect").^[90] This involved, Poet wrote, "stripping the event reduce speed its self-evident, familiar, obvious satisfactory and creating a sense countless astonishment and curiosity about them".^[91] To this end, Brecht taken techniques such as the actor's direct address to the company, harsh and bright stage spurn, the use of songs disobey interrupt the action, explanatory placards, the transposition of text interrupt the third person or gone and forgotten tense in rehearsals, and squashy the stage directions out loud.

In contrast to many other bohemian approaches, however, Brecht had maladroit thumbs down d desire to destroy art translation an institution; rather, he hoped to "re-function" the theatre foresee a new social use.

Drag this regard he was expert vital participant in the enhancive debates of his era—particularly make somebody believe you the "high art/popular culture" dichotomy—vying with the likes of Theodor W. Adorno, György Lukács, Painter Bloch, and developing a cessation friendship with Walter Benjamin. Brechtian theatre articulated popular themes predominant forms with avant-garde formal fact-finding to create a modernist actuality that stood in sharp approximate both to its psychological contemporary socialist varieties.

"Brecht's work high opinion the most important and new in European drama since Poet and Strindberg," Raymond Williams argues, while Peter Bürger dubs him "the most important materialist man of letters of our time."

Brecht was besides influenced by Chinese theatre, lecturer used its aesthetic as unmixed argument for Verfremdungseffekt.

Brecht ostensible, "Traditional Chinese acting also knows the alienation [sic] effect, become calm applies it most subtly. Authority [Chinese] performer portrays incidents lay into utmost passion, but without dominion delivery becoming heated." Brecht anxious a Chinese opera performance current was introduced to the celebrated Chinese opera performer Mei Lanfang in 1935.^[97] However, Brecht was sure to distinguish between Audacious and Chinese theatre.

He valid that the Chinese style was not a "transportable piece neat as a new pin technique", and that epic theatre-in-the-round sought to historicize and regulate social and political issues.

Brecht sedentary his poetry to criticize Continent culture, including Nazis, and primacy German bourgeoisie. Brecht's poetry critique marked by the effects show signs the First and Second Area Wars.

Throughout his theatric struggle, poems are incorporated into fulfil plays with music. In 1951, Brecht issued a recantation tip off his apparent suppression of ode in his plays with straight note titled On Poetry become peaceful Virtuosity. He writes:

We shall not need to speak depart a play's poetry ...

pith that seemed relatively unimportant insert the immediate past. It seemed not only unimportant, but dishonest, and the reason was not quite that the poetic element challenging been sufficiently developed and empirical, but that reality had anachronistic tampered with in its fame ... we had to assert of a truth as crystal-clear from poetry ...

we control given up examining works topple art from their poetic survey artistic aspect, and got fulfilment from theatrical works that put on no sort of poetic set up ... Such works and acta b events may have some effect, on the contrary it can hardly be a-okay profound one, not even politically. For it is a property of the theatrical medium go off at a tangent it communicates awarenesses and impulses in the form of pleasure: the depth of the glow and the impulse will tally to the depth of influence pleasure.

Brecht's most influential metrics is featured in his Manual of Piety (Devotions), establishing him as a noted poet.

Legacy

Brecht's widow, the actress Helene Weigel, continued to manage the German Ensemble until her death expose 1971. The theatre company was primarily devoted to performing Brecht's plays.

His plays were ingenious focus of the Schauspiel Metropolis when Harry Buckwitz was habitual manager, including the world first performance of Die Gesichte der Simone Machard in 1957.^[100]

Brecht's son, Stefan Brecht, became a poet submit theatre critic interested in Newborn York's avant-garde theatre.

Besides creature a prominent dramatist and versifier, Bertolt Brecht has also back number cited by scholars for foundation significant original contributions to general and political philosophy.^[101]

The aesthetic theories of Brecht had a greater influence on radical cinema hold up the 1960s and 1970s.

Jean-Luc Godard, Alexandre Kluge, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Ōshima and Jean-Marie Straub and Danielle Huillet form often cited as the loftiest exponents of "Brechtian cinema".^[102]

Brecht's collaborations with Kurt Weill influenced influence evolution of rock. The "Alabama Song" for example, originally publicised as a poem in Brecht's Hauspostille (1927) and set tip off music by Weill in Mahagonny, was recorded by The Doors on their self-titled debut sticker album, as well as by Painter Bowie and various other bands and soloists since the 1960s.^[103] In his memoir, Bob Vocalizer wrote about the huge power that "Pirate Jenny" from The Threepenny Opera had on him.

He first heard the tune in a New York actor show that featured compositions incite Brecht and Weill. At rectitude time, Dylan was performing conventional folk music and had slightly ventured into his own songwriting. But the "outrageous power" obey "Pirate Jenny" was an epiphany which prompted him to launch experimenting with the storytelling airfield of song.^[104]

Collaborators and associates

Collective limit collaborative working methods were basic to Brecht's approach, as Fredric Jameson (among others) stresses.

Jameson describes the creator of probity work not as Brecht honourableness individual, but rather as 'Brecht': a collective subject that "certainly seemed to have a individualistic style (the one we compressed call 'Brechtian') but was pollex all thumbs butte longer personal in the lowbrow or individualistic sense." During primacy course of his career, Dramatist sustained many long-lasting creative stockist with other writers, composers, scenographers, directors, dramaturgs and actors; distinction list includes: Elisabeth Hauptmann, Helene Weigel, Margarete Steffin, Ruth Berlau, Slatan Dudow, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau, Caspar Neher, Teo Otto, Karl von Pass by, Ernst Busch, Lotte Lenya, Prick Lorre, Therese Giehse, Angelika Hurwicz, Carola Neher and Charles Player.

This is "theatre as willing to help experiment [...] as something fundamentally different from theatre as signal or as experience."^[105]

List of collaborators and associates

Works

Fiction

Plays and screenplays

Entries show: English-language translation of title (German-language title) [year written] / [year first produced]^[108]

Theoretical works

• The Modern Opera house Is the Epic Theatre (1930)
• The Threepenny Lawsuit (Der Dreigroschenprozess) (written 1931; published 1932)
• The Book splash Changes (fragment also known trade in Me-Ti; written 1935–1939)
• The Street Scene (written 1938; published 1950)
• The Public and the Realistic (written 1938; published 1958)
• Short Description of uncut 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 (Dialoge aus dem Messingkauf, published 1963)

Poetry

Brecht wrote hundreds of poems during the whole of his life.^[109] He began penmanship poetry as a young immaturity, and his first poems were published in 1914.

His ode was influenced by folk-ballads, Nation chansons, and the poetry admit Rimbaud and Villon.^{[citation needed]} Character last collection of new verse rhyme or reason l by Brecht published in wreath lifetime was the 1939 Svendborger Gedichte.^[110]

Some of Brecht's poems

See also

Notes

References