My love affair with Brecht

To combat the last post, I will rhapsodize on a German theatre theorist.

Crash course in Bertolt Brecht: German playwright/director/theorist who did alot of work in the 1920s-50s. Developed the concept of Epic Theatre, Berliner Ensemble. Wrote Caucasian Chalk Circle, Mother Courage, Threepenny Opera. And the more I learn about this guy and his work, the more I love it.

I first learned about Brecht in my freshman seminar at William and Mary. It was also my first taste of dramaturgy. Read alot of his plays and theory. While I intelligently understood his work, I can't say I totally loved it. However, the more I read it, the better I like it. Did up a whole directorial packet for Mother Courage for URTAs, and the whole play was illuminated when I learned that Anne Bancroft played the title character on Broadway. The concept was brilliant, lots of WWI art. And today's lecture made it even better. Meryl Streep as adapted by Tony Kushner (two of my absolute favorite, most intelligent theatre artists). Very comic/musichall. Which opens all sorts of new possibilities.

Also, the more I learn about Epic Theatre, the more I realise that it is how I identify with and process theatre/art. As an artist and scholar, I find that exciting. That I have matured in my tastes and sensibility. It informs what I do and how I do it. While I still wouldn't consider myself a political theatre person (in general, I don't particularly like art that delights in its politicalness), I do feel that I am more aware. Or at least I hope so. I think it's also why I have developed such a taste for modern art. It doesn't try to replicate some artificial reality. It is provocative and visceral (well, the good stuff is. the bad stuff just provokes giggles.)

OK. My theatre geek self is going to walk itself to the post office.

on iTunes: "Head Over Heels" - Tears for Fears