A Guide To The Plays Of Bertolt Brecht

ISBN-13: 9780413774163 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 272 str.

Stephen Unwin

Opis

Stephen Unwin's A Guide to the Plays of Bertolt Brecht is an indispensable, comprehensive and highly readable companion to the dramatic work of this challenging and rewarding writer. Besides providing detailed accounts of nineteen key plays, it explores their context and Brecht's dramatic theory to equip readers with a rich understanding of how Brecht's work was shaped by his times and by his evolving thinking about the function of theatre.

Bertolt Brecht's work as a director, his critical and theoretical writing, and above all the remarkable plays that emerged from one of the most turbulent periods in history have had a profound and lasting influence on theatre. Central to theatre studies courses and whose plays are frequently revived on stage, Brecht is nevertheless perceived as a difficult writer. This companion is divided into two sections: the first seven chapters outline the tumultuous historical, cultural and theatrical context of Brecht's work. They explore his theatrical theory and provide an account of his approach to staging his plays which informs an understanding of how they work in practice. The second section provides an analysis of nineteen plays in six chronological groupings, each prefaced by a brief sketch of Brecht's life and theatrical development in that period. For each play, Stephen Unwin offers a synopsis, a critical commentary and an account of the work in performance. The book concludes with an examination of Brecht's legacy and a chronicle of his life and times.

Written by experienced theatre director Stephen Unwin, this is the perfect companion to Brecht's plays and life for student and theatre practitioner alike.

Spis treści

Preface / 1. The Dark Times / 2. Brecht: Playwright, Poet and Artist / 3. Politics, Economics and a New Morality / 4. Art and Culture / 5. Towards a Marxist Theatre / 6. Key Concepts of Brecht's Theatrical Theory / 7. Staging Brecht / 8. Four Early Plays / 9. Two Music-Theatre Pieces and Kurt Weill / 10. Marxism and the Theatre / 11. Opposition Plays / 12. Five Great Plays / 13. A Late Masterpiece / 14. Legacy / 15. Chronicle

O autorze

Stephen Unwin is a founding member of the English Touring theatre for whom he has directed more than 20 productions of both classics and new plays. Before that he was Associate Director at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and was responsible for a number of International and Scottish premieres. He has also directed opera and theatre at the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and throughout the world.