Brecht and the Writer's Workshop: Fatzer and Other Dramatic Projects

Description

Brecht was never inclined to see any of his plays as completely finished, and this volume collects some of the most important theatrical projects and fragments that were always to remain 'works in progress'. Offering an invaluable insight into the writer's working methods and practices, the collection features the famous Fatzer as well as The Bread Store and Judith of Shimoda, along with other texts that have never before been available in English. Alongside the familiar, 'completed' plays, Brecht worked on many ideas and plans which he never managed to work up even once for print or stage. In pieces like Fleischhacker, Garbe/Busching and Jacob Trotalong we see how such projects were abandoned or interrupted or became proving grounds for ideas and techniques. The works collated here span over thirty years and allow the reader to follow Brecht's creative process as he constantly revised his work to engage with new contexts. This treasure-trove of new discoveries is also annotated with dramaturgical notes to present readable and useable texts for the theatre. The volume is edited by Tom Kuhn and Charlotte Ryland, with the translation and dramaturgical edition of each play provided by a team of experienced writers, scholars and translators.

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is acknowledged as one of the great dramatists whose plays, work with the Berliner Ensemble and critical writings have had a considerable influence on the theatre. His landmark plays include The Threepenny Opera, Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, The Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Tom Kuhn is a Fellow of St Hugh's College, University of Oxford. He is the author, editor and translator of numerous works on and by Brecht, and is General Editor of Bloomsbury Methuen Drama's Brecht publications.

Certainly unique ... While this is undoubtedly a tome published with academics and Brechtian completists in mind, the plays themselves are insightful and readable. As such, general readers and students also have a chance to get a further insight into the brain of a unique genius and, who knows, perhaps at some point a reader might be inspired to produce one or more of these plays? * British Theatre Guide *