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Collected Plays Volume 5
Edited by Ralph Manheim and John Willet. Bertolt Collected Plays Volume 5: Life of Galileo, The Trial of Lucllus, Mother Courage and Her Children. First American Edition. Fine condition with Near Fine dust jacket preserved in Brodart plastic cover. Pages clean, unmarked. Binding tight. Photos depict this copy from Tallgrass Books. Prompt shipping! Excellent service!
488 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1972
About the author
Bertolt Brecht
1,719 books1,992 followersEugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director. A seminal theatre practitioner of the twentieth century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble—the post-war theatre company operated by Brecht and his wife and long-time collaborator, the actress Helene Weigel—with its internationally acclaimed productions.
From his late twenties Brecht remained a life-long committed Marxist who, in developing the combined theory and practice of his 'epic theatre', synthesized and extended the experiments of Piscator and Meyerhold to explore the theatre as a forum for political ideas and the creation of a critical aesthetics of dialectical materialism. Brecht's modernist concern with drama-as-a-medium led to his refinement of the 'epic form' of the drama (which constitutes that medium's rendering of 'autonomization' or the 'non-organic work of art'—related in kind to the strategy of divergent chapters in Joyce's novel Ulysses, to Eisenstein's evolution of a constructivist 'montage' in the cinema, and to Picasso's introduction of cubist 'collage' in the visual arts). In contrast to many other avant-garde approaches, however, Brecht had no desire to destroy art as an institution; rather, he hoped to 're-function' the apparatus of theatrical production to a new social use. In this regard he was a vital participant in the aesthetic debates of his era—particularly over the 'high art/popular culture' dichotomy—vying with the likes of Adorno, Lukács, Bloch, and developing a close friendship with Benjamin. Brechtian theatre articulated popular themes and forms with avant-garde formal experimentation to create a modernist realism that stood in sharp contrast both to its psychological and socialist varieties. "Brecht's work is the most important and original in European drama since Ibsen and Strindberg," Raymond Williams argues, while Peter Bürger insists that he is "the most important materialist writer of our time."
As Jameson among others has stressed, "Brecht is also ‘Brecht’"—collective and collaborative working methods were inherent to his approach. This 'Brecht' was a collective subject that "certainly seemed to have a distinctive style (the one we now call 'Brechtian') but was no longer personal in the bourgeois or individualistic sense." During the course of his career, Brecht sustained many long-lasting creative relationships with other writers, composers, scenographers, directors, dramaturgs and actors; the list includes: Elisabeth Hauptmann, Margarete Steffin, Ruth Berlau, Slatan Dudow, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau, Caspar Neher, Teo Otto, Karl von Appen, Ernst Busch, Lotte Lenya, Peter Lorre, Therese Giehse, Angelika Hurwicz, and Helene Weigel herself. This is "theatre as collective experiment [...] as something radically different from theatre as expression or as experience."
There are few areas of modern theatrical culture that have not felt the impact or influence of Brecht's ideas and practices; dramatists and directors in whom one may trace a clear Brechtian legacy include: Dario Fo, Augusto Boal, Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook, Peter Weiss, Heiner Müller, Pina Bausch, Tony Kushner and Caryl Churchill. In addition to the theatre, Brechtian theories and techniques have exerted considerable sway over certain strands of film theory and cinematic practice; Brecht's influence may be detected in the films of Joseph Losey, Jean-Luc Godard, Lindsay Anderson, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Oshima, Ritwik Ghatak, Lars von Trier, Jan Bucquoy and Hal Hartley.
During the war years, Brecht became a prominent writer of the Exilliteratur. He expressed his opposition to the National Socialist and Fascist movements in his most famous plays.
From his late twenties Brecht remained a life-long committed Marxist who, in developing the combined theory and practice of his 'epic theatre', synthesized and extended the experiments of Piscator and Meyerhold to explore the theatre as a forum for political ideas and the creation of a critical aesthetics of dialectical materialism. Brecht's modernist concern with drama-as-a-medium led to his refinement of the 'epic form' of the drama (which constitutes that medium's rendering of 'autonomization' or the 'non-organic work of art'—related in kind to the strategy of divergent chapters in Joyce's novel Ulysses, to Eisenstein's evolution of a constructivist 'montage' in the cinema, and to Picasso's introduction of cubist 'collage' in the visual arts). In contrast to many other avant-garde approaches, however, Brecht had no desire to destroy art as an institution; rather, he hoped to 're-function' the apparatus of theatrical production to a new social use. In this regard he was a vital participant in the aesthetic debates of his era—particularly over the 'high art/popular culture' dichotomy—vying with the likes of Adorno, Lukács, Bloch, and developing a close friendship with Benjamin. Brechtian theatre articulated popular themes and forms with avant-garde formal experimentation to create a modernist realism that stood in sharp contrast both to its psychological and socialist varieties. "Brecht's work is the most important and original in European drama since Ibsen and Strindberg," Raymond Williams argues, while Peter Bürger insists that he is "the most important materialist writer of our time."
As Jameson among others has stressed, "Brecht is also ‘Brecht’"—collective and collaborative working methods were inherent to his approach. This 'Brecht' was a collective subject that "certainly seemed to have a distinctive style (the one we now call 'Brechtian') but was no longer personal in the bourgeois or individualistic sense." During the course of his career, Brecht sustained many long-lasting creative relationships with other writers, composers, scenographers, directors, dramaturgs and actors; the list includes: Elisabeth Hauptmann, Margarete Steffin, Ruth Berlau, Slatan Dudow, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau, Caspar Neher, Teo Otto, Karl von Appen, Ernst Busch, Lotte Lenya, Peter Lorre, Therese Giehse, Angelika Hurwicz, and Helene Weigel herself. This is "theatre as collective experiment [...] as something radically different from theatre as expression or as experience."
There are few areas of modern theatrical culture that have not felt the impact or influence of Brecht's ideas and practices; dramatists and directors in whom one may trace a clear Brechtian legacy include: Dario Fo, Augusto Boal, Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook, Peter Weiss, Heiner Müller, Pina Bausch, Tony Kushner and Caryl Churchill. In addition to the theatre, Brechtian theories and techniques have exerted considerable sway over certain strands of film theory and cinematic practice; Brecht's influence may be detected in the films of Joseph Losey, Jean-Luc Godard, Lindsay Anderson, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Oshima, Ritwik Ghatak, Lars von Trier, Jan Bucquoy and Hal Hartley.
During the war years, Brecht became a prominent writer of the Exilliteratur. He expressed his opposition to the National Socialist and Fascist movements in his most famous plays.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 29, 2018
V – Intro for 1938-39, as well as multiple drafts and production notes.
Life of Galileo - overpowering. We start with the proposition that “in science everything’s the opposite of common sense” (9), a point that works well within the tradition of western marxism, as theorized by Gramsci. When he “contradicts all the astronomy of two thousand years,” Galileo may state that “Humanity notes in its diary: Heaven abolished” (19). This is the result of his principle that “as scientists we have no business asking what the truth may lead to” (35). Very much the derridean notion in “we oughtn’t be defending shaky doctrines” but rather “you ought to be doing the shaking” (36). Very plainly unshaken doctrine is “what gives them the strength to sweat their way up stony paths with heavy baskets, to bear children, even to eat,” as it is “the feeling of stability and necessity” (56). The question accordingly “is not the planets, but the peasants” (57). Recall however that “the aim of science is not to open the door to everlasting wisdom but to set a limit to everlasting error” (64). And of course: “unhappy the land that needs a hero” (85). Though one of his adherents believes that he hid “the truth […] from the enemy” by recanting and thus lived to teach science (92), Galileo soberly self-assesses, believing that, in order to prevent the “universal outcry of horror,” he should have not recanted, so “scientists might have developed something like the physicians’ Hippocratic oath, the vow to use their knowledge only for the good of mankind” (94). Instead, “the best we can hope for is a generation of inventive dwarfs [?] who can be hired for any purpose” (id.). If no other Brecht, then this at least.
Trial of Lucullus - Roman general is judged for imperialist and aristocratic crimes. “The names of the great arouse no fear among us below” (113), and “their glory is to us like a smoke” (id.). Though the living are denied admission in the underworld, slaves are the exception (NB), insofar as “so little separates them from the dead” (114). It is not just a general on trial, but also “all devouring Rome” (118), and by extension all imperialism. Certainly on oddity for a lefty atheist, cool as it might be.
Mother Courage and Her Children - a tragedy that is written and produced to prevent audience identification with the simulated pathos of the actor. There’s a great epic theatre production note about how the actress who performs the lead role must approach it: “Such a scene is socially disastrous if by hypnotic action the actress playing Mother Courage invites the audience to identify with her. This will only increase the spectator’s own tendencies to resignation and capitulation” (362)—the risk, it seems, is that form can preempt substance. War profiteering as a self-negating proposition, ultimately. A very strong text: “maybe there will never be a perfect war, one that lives up to our expectations” (179).
Life of Galileo - overpowering. We start with the proposition that “in science everything’s the opposite of common sense” (9), a point that works well within the tradition of western marxism, as theorized by Gramsci. When he “contradicts all the astronomy of two thousand years,” Galileo may state that “Humanity notes in its diary: Heaven abolished” (19). This is the result of his principle that “as scientists we have no business asking what the truth may lead to” (35). Very much the derridean notion in “we oughtn’t be defending shaky doctrines” but rather “you ought to be doing the shaking” (36). Very plainly unshaken doctrine is “what gives them the strength to sweat their way up stony paths with heavy baskets, to bear children, even to eat,” as it is “the feeling of stability and necessity” (56). The question accordingly “is not the planets, but the peasants” (57). Recall however that “the aim of science is not to open the door to everlasting wisdom but to set a limit to everlasting error” (64). And of course: “unhappy the land that needs a hero” (85). Though one of his adherents believes that he hid “the truth […] from the enemy” by recanting and thus lived to teach science (92), Galileo soberly self-assesses, believing that, in order to prevent the “universal outcry of horror,” he should have not recanted, so “scientists might have developed something like the physicians’ Hippocratic oath, the vow to use their knowledge only for the good of mankind” (94). Instead, “the best we can hope for is a generation of inventive dwarfs [?] who can be hired for any purpose” (id.). If no other Brecht, then this at least.
Trial of Lucullus - Roman general is judged for imperialist and aristocratic crimes. “The names of the great arouse no fear among us below” (113), and “their glory is to us like a smoke” (id.). Though the living are denied admission in the underworld, slaves are the exception (NB), insofar as “so little separates them from the dead” (114). It is not just a general on trial, but also “all devouring Rome” (118), and by extension all imperialism. Certainly on oddity for a lefty atheist, cool as it might be.
Mother Courage and Her Children - a tragedy that is written and produced to prevent audience identification with the simulated pathos of the actor. There’s a great epic theatre production note about how the actress who performs the lead role must approach it: “Such a scene is socially disastrous if by hypnotic action the actress playing Mother Courage invites the audience to identify with her. This will only increase the spectator’s own tendencies to resignation and capitulation” (362)—the risk, it seems, is that form can preempt substance. War profiteering as a self-negating proposition, ultimately. A very strong text: “maybe there will never be a perfect war, one that lives up to our expectations” (179).
May 29, 2018
Galileo ***** – Galileo is an outstanding play. This and The Caucasian Chalk Circle are Brecht's best works (in my opinion). Galileo is one the stage's most memorable creations. I'm not even sure if it was intentional (with his theories about alienation), but Brecht's Galileo comes to life on the page and on the stage like Shakespeare's Falstaff. The story, though more argumentive than action packed, pits scientific revolution versus authority (i.e., the Catholic Church). Galileo's recantation is presented subtly with humor and pathos.
I highly recommend the Arcade edition. It includes the final version of the play, plus the full-length English version Brecht put together in Los Angeles during World War II with the actor Charles Laughton. (03/2011)
Mother Courage ***– Mother Courage is Brecht's anti-war play, originally written around the beginning of WWII as a warning to the German people. As such, it is a bitter, dark play. Although Brecht tries very hard to make the reader/viewer hold Mother Courage accountable for the loss of her children (because of her overzealous concern for her cart -- i.e., capitalism), it's hard not to see her children's deaths as a result of the senselessness of war.
Mother Courage is classic Brecht with all the "alienation" techniques he liked to use. It is not, though, my favorite. If you want a good introduction to Brecht, I suggest Galileo or The Caucasian Chalk Circle -- two of my favorite plays by any author.
As with all other editions of Brecht's plays, I highly recommend the Arcade paperbacks. They provide an excellent introduction and notes to help the reader understand the time period of the play. (03/2011)
The Trial of Lucullus *** – This is a radio play about the judgment of the Roman general Lucullus in the afterlife. There are some nice sections and poetry (and I like the overall idea), but it doesn’t really hold together. I’d like to hear the opera. (03/2016)
I strongly recommend the LA Theatre Works recording of The Life of Galileo. It is excellently performed. The translation/adaptation is a bit different than this one. https://www.amazon.com/Galileo-Librar... (07/2018)
I highly recommend the Arcade edition. It includes the final version of the play, plus the full-length English version Brecht put together in Los Angeles during World War II with the actor Charles Laughton. (03/2011)
Mother Courage ***– Mother Courage is Brecht's anti-war play, originally written around the beginning of WWII as a warning to the German people. As such, it is a bitter, dark play. Although Brecht tries very hard to make the reader/viewer hold Mother Courage accountable for the loss of her children (because of her overzealous concern for her cart -- i.e., capitalism), it's hard not to see her children's deaths as a result of the senselessness of war.
Mother Courage is classic Brecht with all the "alienation" techniques he liked to use. It is not, though, my favorite. If you want a good introduction to Brecht, I suggest Galileo or The Caucasian Chalk Circle -- two of my favorite plays by any author.
As with all other editions of Brecht's plays, I highly recommend the Arcade paperbacks. They provide an excellent introduction and notes to help the reader understand the time period of the play. (03/2011)
The Trial of Lucullus *** – This is a radio play about the judgment of the Roman general Lucullus in the afterlife. There are some nice sections and poetry (and I like the overall idea), but it doesn’t really hold together. I’d like to hear the opera. (03/2016)
I strongly recommend the LA Theatre Works recording of The Life of Galileo. It is excellently performed. The translation/adaptation is a bit different than this one. https://www.amazon.com/Galileo-Librar... (07/2018)
May 26, 2020
Read Mother Courage and Her Children, and The Trial of Lucullus. Skipped Life of Galileo, which I read years ago. Skipped all but a few pages of the Notes and Variants.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews