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BERHOLT BRECHT

BERHOLT BRECHT. 1898-1956. His Birthplace. His birthplace at Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany is now a museum. But he is a controversal figure and there was much opposition to the museum. His Early Life.

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BERHOLT BRECHT

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  1. BERHOLT BRECHT 1898-1956

  2. His Birthplace • His birthplace at Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany is now a museum. But he is a controversal figure and there was much opposition to the museum.

  3. His Early Life • His mother was Protestant and his father was Catholic. His mother made sure he studied the Bible and this shows in his work. • His relationship with his mother is also reflected in many of his female characters… dangerous martyrs. • At school he met Casper Neher who was the designer responsible for the style of BrechtianTheatre. • When he was 16 the WWI began and he avoided the draft for a while by enrolling in Medicine at University. • When he was drafted towards the end of the war he became a medical officer in a VD clinic.

  4. Middle Years and Influences • He was a great fan of the physical comedy of Karl Valentin who was called Germany’s Charlie Chaplin.

  5. Middle Years and Influences • He was part of Erwin Piscator’s first company and this worked on a collective principle. • It is generally agreed that the two of them invented ‘Epic Theatre’.

  6. Middle Years and Influences • He also worked with a composer, Kurt Weill and their work ,’The Threepenny Opera’ is credited with having a huge international influence on the stage musical.

  7. WW2 • He had to leave Germany when Hitler came to power and moved around Europe until granted a visa to the USA. • There were many German artists in Hollywood and he worked on films and theatre work. • He wrote Exilliteratur which was a particular kind of literature written by Anti-Nazi Germans who fled Germany during the war.

  8. House of Un-American Activities Committee • This was a witchhunt for Communists in Hollywood. • Although he had always been Socialist he told the Committee that he had never been a Communist. This was seen as huge betrayal of all he stood for.

  9. The Hollywood Ten • This was a group of Hollywood creatives who refused to appear before the HUAC and were blacklisted and few ever worked again. Brecht volunteered to attend and was seen as a traitor.

  10. Berliner Ensemble • Brecht returned to Germany and created the Berliner Ensemble which is one of the most famous theatre companies in the world. • All of the productions were documented with a Modellbuch which contained up to 800 pictures of the creation and performance. • Although in a different building and with much government support, the Berliner Ensemble still exits today.

  11. Modellbuch Photos

  12. Death • Brecht died in 1956 at 58 years old of a heart attack. • 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

  13. His Plays • Baal (The first full length play he wrote) • Drums In the Night (His first produced play) • The Threepenny Opera • Life of Galileo • Mother Courage and Her Children • The Good Person of Szechwan • The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui • The Caucasian Chalk Circle

  14. Some Brechtian Vocab • Collaboration • Epic Theatre • Verfremdungseffekt /Alienation • Fabel • Gestus • Dramaturg • Attitude • Historification • Episodic Structure

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