Brecht on Performance

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is acknowledged as one of the great dramatists whose plays, work with the Berliner Ensemble and writing have had a considerable influence on the theatre. His landmark plays include The Threepenny Opera and, while exiled from Germany and living in the USA, such masterpieces as The Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

Brecht on Performance is a companion volume and has two parts. The first is an overhaul of what Willett previously called the Messingkauf Dialogues. ‘Buying Brass’ – the more literal translation of Messingkauf – assembles more of the fragmentary material and includes Brecht’s ‘Practice Pieces for Actors’, revealing that the ‘dialogues’ were only one, albeit major, element in the overall project. The editing of the fragments is exemplary … The second part includes writings and images from three of Brecht’s ‘modelbooks’, as well as essays from the Berliner Ensemble’s documentation Theatre Work and the ‘Katzgraben’ Notes. Taken together, the extracts presented here form a rich collection that includes significant work from when Brecht returned to theatre-making in 1948. These two volumes represent an excellent extension of Brecht’s writings in English. The editors draw on contemporary scholarship, apply high editorial standards, and offer a readability that opens up Brecht’s theories and practices for a new generation.