Bertolt Brecht (1898 – 1956)

Bertolt Brecht (1898 – 1956)

Interest in film, esp. Chaplin and slap stick

Bertolt Brecht (1898 – 1956)

Interest in film, esp. Chaplin and slap stickDramaturg in Berlin

Bertolt Brecht (1898 – 1956)

Interest in film, esp. Chaplin and slap stickDramaturg in BerlinDramaturg: researcher, scholar; but with eye towards production

Bertolt Brecht (1898 – 1956)

Interest in film, esp. Chaplin and slap stickDramaturg in BerlinDramaturg: researcher, scholar; but with eye towards production1933-45: exile in Denmark and US

Bertolt Brecht (1898 – 1956)

Interest in film, esp. Chaplin and slap stickDramaturg in BerlinDramaturg: researcher, scholar; but with eye towards production1933-45: exile in Denmark and USCollaborates with Fritz Lang in Hollywood on film, Hangman also Die

Bertolt Brecht (1898 – 1956)

Interest in film, esp. Chaplin and slap stickDramaturg in BerlinDramaturg: researcher, scholar; but with eye towards production1933-45: exile in Denmark and USCollaborates with Fritz Lang in Hollywood on film, Hangman also DieHUAC, returns to Europe and settles in East Germany

Jungle of Cities

Agassiz Players, Harvard, 1967

Jungle of Cities

Agassiz Players, Harvard, 1967The Crimson, August 18, 1967: “Even in theory the set is out of place. A jungle gym may remind one of the jungle, but it is misguided to try to cage the scenes of a highly dialectic play into once central playing area.”

Jungle of Cities

Agassiz Players, Harvard, 1967The Crimson, August 18, 1967: “Even in theory the set is out of place. A jungle gym may remind one of the jungle, but it is misguided to try to cage the scenes of a highly dialectic play into once central playing area.”

A.R.T. 1998 under Paul Woodruff

Prefatory remark:

“It is the year 1912 in the city of Chicago: you are witnessing an inexplicable wrestling match, and the destruction of a family that has come from the prairie lands to the great city jungle. In observing this battle, do not rack your brains for motives: concern yourself with the human element, evaluate the antagonists’ fighting spirit impartially and concentrate your interest on the showdown.”

Prefatory remark:

“It is the year 1912 in the city of Chicago: you are witnessing an inexplicable wrestling match, and the destruction of a family that has come from the prairie lands to the great city jungle. In observing this battle, do not rack your brains for motives: concern yourself with the human element, evaluate the antagonists’ fighting spirit impartially and concentrate your interest on the showdown.”

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906), set in the slaughterhouses of Chicago

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906), set in the slaughterhouses of Chicago

City is difficult to navigate; things are connected, you just don’t know how

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906), set in the slaughterhouses of Chicago

City is difficult to navigate; things are connected, you just don’t know how

paranoia

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906), set in the slaughterhouses of Chicago

City is difficult to navigate; things are connected, you just don’t know how

ParanoiaOpening scene: Shlink has prearranged

everything; someone is pulling the strings

Prefatory remark:

“It is the year 1912 in the city of Chicago: you are witnessing an inexplicable wrestling match, and the destruction of a family that has come from the prairie lands to the great city jungle. In observing this battle, do not rack your brains for motives: concern yourself with the human element, evaluate the antagonists’ fighting spirit impartially and concentrate your interest on the showdown.”

Brecht’s emerging theory of theater

Going to the theater like watching sports

Brecht’s emerging theory of theater

Going to the theater like watching sportsNot about motives, but moves in a game

Brecht’s emerging theory of theater

Going to the theater like watching sportsNot about motives, but moves in a gameDo not empathize, but observe impartially

Paul Samson-Körner

Brecht and Körner

Brecht’s emerging theory of theater

Going to the theater like watching sportsNot about motives, but moves in a gameDo not empathize, but observe impartiallyBrecht’s admiration for the “objective” fighting

style of Boxer Paul Samson-Körner, to whom he devotes a (unfinished) play called “The Human Fighting Machine”

Prefatory remark:

“It is the year 1912 in the city of Chicago: you are witnessing an inexplicable wrestling match, and the destruction of a family that has come from the prairie lands to the great city jungle. In observing this battle, do not rack your brains for motives: concern yourself with the human element, evaluate the antagonists’ fighting spirit impartially and concentrate your interest on the showdown.”

Prefatory remark:

“It is the year 1912 in the city of Chicago: you are witnessing an inexplicable wrestling match, and the destruction of a family that has come from the prairie lands to the great city jungle. In observing this battle, do not rack your brains for motives: concern yourself with the human stakes, evaluate the antagonists’ fighting spirit impartially and concentrate your interest on the showdown.”

Brecht’s emerging theory of theater

Not about motives, but moves in a game; not why, but how

Brecht:

"The actions of people in our time, as they are presented in the newspapers, cannot be explained by means of common motives. More and more police reports appear without providing the motive of the perpetrator. For this reason you must not be surprised that in the new drama certain people act differently in certain situation than you would expect and that your hypotheses about their motives prove to be false. In this world and in this drama philosophers have an easier time than psychologists."

Brecht:

"The actions of people in our time, as they are presented in the newspapers, cannot be explained by means of common motives. More and more police reports appear without providing the motive of the perpetrator. For this reason you must not be surprised that in the new drama certain people act differently in certain situation than you would expect and that your hypotheses about their motives prove to be false. In this world and in this drama philosophers have an easier time than psychologists."

Brecht’s emerging theory of theater

Not about motives, but moves in a game: not why, but how

Watch theater like a philosopher: develop hypotheses

Battle: "The basic idea of the play is that pure sportsmanship could involve two men in a battle which fundamentally transforms their economic situation and themselves beyond recognition."

Battle: "The basic idea of the play is that pure sportsmanship could involve two men in a battle which fundamentally transforms their economic situation and themselves beyond recognition."

Economic battle

Buying books, buying ideas

Economic battle

Buying books, buying ideasExtreme world of starvation and plenty, selling

yourself, selling your body, dependency and domination

Economic battle

Buying books, buying ideasExtreme world of starvation and plenty, selling

yourself, selling your body, dependency and domination

Shady business dealings

Economic battle

Buying books, buying ideasExtreme world of starvation and plenty, selling

yourself, selling your body, dependency and domination

Shady business dealingsRough sexist and racist language; unvarnished

Economic speculation and gambling

Shlink “I declare war on you. I’ll begin this fight by shaking the foundations of your life” (16)

Economic speculation and gambling

Shlink “I declare war on you. I’ll begin this fight by shaking the foundations of your life” (16)

Garga: “You’ve skinned me, just for the hell of it. And I’ll settle my accounts with you.” (25)

Economic speculation and gambling

Shlink “I declare war on you. I’ll begin this fight by shaking the foundations of your life” (16)

Garga: “You’ve skinned me, just for the hell of it. And I’ll settle my accounts with you.” (25)

Manky: “It’s all part of the same business” (33)

Economic speculation and gambling

Shlink “I declare war on you. I’ll begin this fight by shaking the foundations of your life” (16)

Garga: “You’ve skinned me, just for the hell of it. And I’ll settle my accounts with you.” (25)

Manky: “It’s all part of the same business” (33)Shlink: “I’ve gambled away all I had” (39)

Economic speculation and gambling

Shlink “I declare war on you. I’ll begin this fight by shaking the foundations of your life” (16)

Garga: “You’ve skinned me, just for the hell of it. And I’ll settle my accounts with you.” (25)

Manky: “It’s all part of the same business” (33)Shlink: “I’ve gambled away all I had” (39)Garga: “Every time I look at your face I see

you’re sizing me up. You’ve backed the wrong horse?” (49)

Shlink: “The losses are heavy, on both sides” (55)

Battle: "The basic idea of the play is that pure sportsmanship could involve two men in a battle which fundamentally transforms their economic situation and themselves beyond recognition."

Changes in character by changing places:

Changes in character by changing places:Garga takes over Shlink’s lumber business

Changes in character by changing places:Garga takes over Shlink’s lumber businessShlink supports Garga’s family

Changes in character by changing places:Garga takes over Shlink’s lumber businessShlink supports Garga’s familyGarga goes to jail for Shlink

Changes in character by changing places:Garga takes over Shlink’s lumber businessShlink supports Garga’s familyGarga goes to jail for Shlink

Positions are more important than character

Do changes in economic circumstances change character?

"When I read Marx's Capital I understood my plays. Marx is the only spectator for my plays I’ve ever come across."

In this world and in this drama philosophers have an easier time than psychologists:

In this world and in this drama philosophers have an easier time than psychologists:

Garga to Shlink: “You‘re staging a metaphysical battle” (50)

In this world and in this drama philosophers have an easier time than psychologists:

Garga to Shlink: “You‘re staging a metaphysical battle” (50)

Garga to Shlink: “You turn members of my family into resources, you live off my supply. And I’m getting leaner and leaner, I’m drifting away into metaphysics.”

In this world and in this drama philosophers have an easier time than psychologists:

Garga to Shlink: “You‘re staging a metaphysical battle” (50)

Garga to Shlink: “You turn members of my family into resources, you live off my supply. And I’m getting leaner and leaner, I’m drifting away into metaphysics.”

Shlink: “So you have understood it. We’re companions, comrades in a metaphysical action!” (81)

Shlink: “You just wanted to finish me off, but I wanted the fight: and it wasn’t the body, it was the soul.” (85)

Metaphysics: after/above physics

Geography and racism

Estrangement: making the familiar unfamiliar

Geography and racism

Estrangement: making the familiar unfamiliarSetting plays in America, Asia

Geography and racism

Estrangement: making the familiar unfamiliarSetting plays in America, Asia"Practically speaking it would have been enough

if the theater had an enlarged photography of America as a back-drop and to indicate the Asian origin, Shlink had painted his skin yellow."

Manifesto assignment

Manifesto form:- Making the hidden manifest, meeting rumors,

exorcizing specters

Manifesto form:- Making the hidden manifest, meeting rumors,

exorcizing specters- Grand history culminating in the present

Manifesto form:- Making the hidden manifest, meeting rumors,

exorcizing specters- Grand history culminating in the present- Dramatic structure, including crises and turning

point, rather than dialogue or credo

Manifesto form:- Making the hidden manifest, meeting rumors,

exorcizing specters- Grand history culminating in the present- Dramatic structure, including crises and turning

point, rather than dialogue or credo- Dramatic story telling, including the use of the

sublime and a sudden reversal

Manifesto form:- Making the hidden manifest, meeting rumors,

exorcizing specters- Grand history culminating in the present- Dramatic structure, including crises and turning

point, rather than dialogue or credo- Dramatic story telling, including the use of the

sublime and a sudden reversal- Intervention, not just description: manifesto

contributes to the reversal it describes

2nd assignmentEither critical paper or creative assignment: write a Manifesto of Capitalism.

2nd assignmentEither critical paper or creative assignment: write a Manifesto of Capitalism.Think about the form: would it be adequate to copy

formal features from the Communist Manifesto, or should you change the form as well as the content?

2nd assignmentEither critical paper or creative assignment: write a Manifesto of Capitalism.Think about the form: would it be adequate to copy

formal features from the Communist Manifesto, or should you change the form as well as the content?

Would you emphasize history or ideas?

2nd assignmentEither critical paper or creative assignment: write a Manifesto of Capitalism.Think about the form: would it be adequate to copy

formal features from the Communist Manifesto, or should you change the form as well as the content?

Would you emphasize history or ideas?What role would the crises of capitalism play in your

account?

2nd assignmentEither critical paper or creative assignment: write a Manifesto of Capitalism.Think about the form: would it be adequate to copy

formal features from the Communist Manifesto, or should you change the form as well as the content?

Would you emphasize history or ideas?What role would the crises of capitalism play in your

account?Whom would the manifesto be against? Marx?

2nd assignmentEither critical paper or creative assignment: write a Manifesto of Capitalism.Think about the form: would it be adequate to copy

formal features from the Communist Manifesto, or should you change the form as well as the content?

Would you emphasize history or ideas?What role would the crises of capitalism play in your

account?Whom would the manifesto be against? Marx?What would it be making manifest?

Manifesto assignment cont.

From what position would you write your manifesto?Would the recent financial crisis and/ Occupy Wall Street play a role?