Bertolt Brecht : Critical and Primary Sources

With over 80 scholarly articles, reviews, and critical interventions from the last 50 years, Bertolt Brecht: Critical and Primary Sources set covers the key periods of Brecht’s life, from his time in Augsburg (1898–1918) through the Weimer Republic (1918–1933), exile (1933–1948) and the German Democratic Republic (1949–1956). It also explores his theories, fundamentally his belief in the theatre’s ability to represent and change the world, core practices and relationships.

Alongside primary sources that include writings by Brecht published in English for the first time, such as his short but important reflection in ‘originality’ in theatre production, key featured scholars include Fredric Jameson and his essay ‘Episch, or, the Third Person’, and pieces on Brecht’s collaborative working methods by Claus and Wera Küchenmeister, and the director Egon Monk.

Volume 1 covers Brecht''s life and work, including essays on his famous Mother Courage and Her Children, production reviews, poetry, novels and short stories, with some thoughts on his journals.

Volume 2 covers theory, containing essays and primary writings on Brechtian terminology, and some of the more enigmatic terms like ‘Epic theatre’, ‘Verfremdung’, ‘Gestus’ and ‘Fabel’, features a survey of important theoretical works, a section on Brecht on non-theatre media, his relationship to other major thinkers, ideas and sources and the reception of his ideas.

Volume 3 covers practice, including Brecht’s practice as documenter and director, beginning with his disastrous start in the Weimar Republic through to his later role as director as the Berliner Ensemble, his relationships with other practitioners and his own collaborators, reviews of important productions and global receptions.

Each volume includes a contextualizing introduction surveying the topics covered and the development of scholarship on Brecht.