Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht, born as Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht, was a German

poet, playwright and theatre practitioner. He was a visionary who

departed from the accepted conventional norms of illusion in theatrical

production and tried new approaches to develop a better understanding

of drama. He insisted that the audience view the stage and actors from

a realistic and rational perspective and not as the conventional “make-

believe” world. He was just 16 when the World War I started – he became

increasingly disillusioned with the society and started moving towards

Marxism and Dadaism. Even though he had studied medicine in university,

he developed a profound interest in literature. He wrote his first play

‘Baal’ in 1918 which was theatrically produced in 1923. His meeting with

the novelist and playwright Lion Feuchtwanger in 1919 proved to be a

turning point in his career. He worked with him on an adaptation of

Christopher Marlowe’s play Edward II, which greatly inspired his

theatrical and dramaturgical development. He was a part of Erwin

Piscator’s first company which was dedicated to the development of its

"epic, political, confrontational, documentary theatre." He also

collaborated with Kurt Weill and was influenced by Chinese theatre. He,

along with his wife, founded the theatre company ‘Berliner Ensemble’

during the post war years.

Major Works

 ‘The Threepenny Opera’, a musical that premiered in 1928 had been

translated into 18 languages and performed more than 10,000 times

across European by 1933.

 The historical drama, ‘Life of Galileo’ dealt with the latter

period of the life of the great Italian philosopher Galileo Galilei

who was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church.

 The play ‘Mother Courage and Her Children’ which Brecht co-wrote

with Margarete Steffin in 1939 is considered by some to be the

greatest play of the 20th century. The play was also filmed several

years after his death.

 ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’ is a play he wrote in 1944 while he

was in the U.S. It tells the story of a child who is rescued and

brought up by a peasant girl. This play is considered as one of

his most important works.

Awards & Achievements

 He was awarded the prestigious Kleist Prize in 1922 for his first

three plays ‘Baal’, ‘Drums in the Night’, and ‘In the Jungle.’

 He was posthumously awarded the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding

Lyrics in 1970 for ‘Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.’