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Home , Kuhle Wampe, Life of Galileo

EDUCATION PACK Thanks to our supporters Contents

Synopsis Auckland Theatre Company receives principal and core funding from: P.04 P.22

Scene Breakdown About the Playwright P.08 P.26

Epilogue Epic Production Design P.10 P.32

ATC Creative Learning also thanks the ATC Patrons, the ATC Supporting Acts Directing Readings and Resources and Foundation North for their ongoing generosity P.12 P.46

Characters ATC Creative Learning P.16 P.48

Who's Who? Curriculum Links P.18 P.49

Supported by our university partner - AUT

Venue: ASB Waterfront theatre, 138 Halsey Street, Auckland School Matinee Performances: Thursday 1 July at 11am Please note Running Time: 2 hours and 40 minutes, including an interval Post-Show Takes place in the theatre immediately after the Forum: performance (15 – 20minutes) • Photography or recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Suitability: This production is suitable for Year Levels 11 – 13 • Eating and drinking in the auditorium is strongly discouraged. Advisory: Occasional use of strong language • Please make sure all cell phones are turned off. PRODUCTION Director of Production — Jess Leslie Company Manager — Elaine Walsh Stage Manager — Chiara Niccolini Assistant Stage Manager — Catherine Grealish Props Manager — Kathryn Aucamp CAST Technical Manager — Robert Hunte Galileo — Michael Hurst Fly Technician — TJ Haunui Andrea Sarti — Ravikanth Gurunathan Sound and AV Operators — Paris Daniel and Cameron Brown Cardinal Barberini/Mathematician/Pope — Rima Te Wiata LX Operator — Stephen Paul Mrs Sarti/Grand Inquisitor — Hera Dunleavy Dresser — Siobhan Ridgley Virginia Galilei — Amelia Rose Reynolds Set Construction and Installation — Ludovico/Singer/Border Guard/Ensemble — Pilot Productions with Ray's Theatrical Services Haanz Fa'avae-Jackson Audio Description — Ina Patisolo and Edward Newborn Vice-Chancellor/Angry Cardinal/Vanni — Cameron Rhodes NZSL Translation — Kelly Hodgins and Mark Hodgson Philosopher/Cardinal Bellarmin/Guard Priest — Roy Ward Lady-in-Waiting/Singer/The Little Monk — Bryony Skillington MUSIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Federzoni — Taungaroa Emile Music, Lyrics and Piano — John Gibson The Grand Duchess/Ensemble — Aleisha Merwyn Cello — Ashley Brown Pope Dresser/Ensemble — Maia Hapakuku Ratana Song recorded by John Kim at University of Auckland's School of Music Clerk 1/Ensemble — Brigit Kelly Priest 1/Ensemble — Dario Kuschke Cello and organ recorded at Auckland Town Hall thanks to The Auckland Town Hall Organ Trust and Auckland Live Man in a Black Suit/Ensemble — Nat Dolan Music from Shona McCullagh's Dancing Ground Clavius/Ensemble — Kalem Leckey thanks to permission from Colin Gibson and Shona McCullagh Priest 2/Ensemble — Viivi Crossland The Official/Ensemble — Millie Manning ATC CREATIVE LEARNING CREATIVE Associate Director - 2021 — Lynne Cardy Schools and youth coordinator — Billie Staples Director — Colin McColl Assistant Director — Samuel Phillips Teaching Artists — Catherine Yates and Matthew Kereama Set Designer — Sean Coyle Education Pack writer & editor — Lynne Cardy Costume Designer — Elizabeth Whiting Additional contributions by Amber McWilliams Lighting Designer — Jo Kilgour Production designs courtesy of Sean Coyle and Elizabeth Whiting Composer and Sound Designer — John Gibson Graphic Design — Wanda Tambrin Video Designer — Harley Campbell Production Images — Andi Crown

2 3 Synopsis what happens in the play

In the early 17th century and When the play opens, Galileo is in the latter part of his life, 46 and a well-known scientist in astronomer and physicist Padua, Italy where he lives with struggles to his daughter Virginia, housekeeper prove the Copernican theory Mrs Sarti, and her young son of a heliocentric universe; that Andrea. Galileo supports his research by taking on private the Earth rotates daily, and pupils and lecturing part time at revolves around the Sun, and the university. not the other way around, as He is teaching Andrea about the powerful astronomy when Mrs Sarti insisted at the time. introduces a prospective student, a wealthy young man called Ludovico sent by his mother to study because it is ‘’all the rage’’. Ludovico tells Galileo about a tube, a ‘distance glass’ invented in Holland that “makes everything big”. From Ludovico’s description of the tube’s lenses Galileo builds his own telescope, the first of its kind in Italy, and uses it to buy favour with the wealthy patrons of Venice, and to look to the night sky to prove his heliocentric hypothesis.

4 5 Working with his friend the lens disbelief and ridicule. Galileo observes eight years To the shock of his grinder Federzoni, he discovers Unperturbed, Galileo continues of silence on his theories, looking collaborators, Andrea, Federzoni the four moons of Jupiter, and his work and in Rome the Vatican instead to other research until and the Little Monk, Galileo is observing their phases realises he research institute, the Collegium encouraged by the appointment forced to recant his theories and has found proof of Copernicus’ Romanum, confirms his findings. of a new Pope (the mathematician live-in exile with Virginia for the theory. Galileo’s findings are pitted However, the powerful Cardinal Barberini) to resume rest of his life. against the Catholic Church and Inquisition bans Copernican his research into sunspots. At the end of the play the Pope’s authority, who see theory putting it on an index of This outrages the conservative Galileo, under house arrest and them as a threat to their religion forbidden texts. Ludovico who in turn declares surveillance, receives a visit from and status. Even Federzoni initially Rattled by the Inquisition, he cannot marry Virginia. She is Andrea – who is travelling to challenges his ‘earth around the a young friar and mathematician heartbroken. Holland – and in secret Galileo sun nonsense, wondering where from Rome, “The Little Monk” tells Nine years pass and Galileo’s reveals that he has written a God exists for common people in Galileo he is worried about the ideas spread and take root among copy of his theories – the Discorsi this new, radical universe. effects these ideas will have on the the people. Towns throughout – which he gives to Andrea to Galileo’s discoveries gain fame, lives of common people, like his Italy choose astronomy as the smuggle abroad. and he moves to Florence to the peasant parents. Galileo convinces theme of their annual carnival In an epilogue, the company court of the Medicis. Virginia - now him that the Church wants to and the Church grows worried, reminds the audience to use engaged to Ludovico – is thrilled suppress knowledge precisely summoning Galileo to Rome and science wisely. by the move to court but there to retain oppressive control and the Inquisition. Galileo’s theories are met with power over common people.

6 7 Scene Breakdown 15 stations in the life of

Galileo Galilei ROME, 5 MARCH 1616 7 The inquisition puts Copernican theory on the index of forbidden books.

ROME, 1616 8 A conversation.

FLORENCE, 1624 9 After eight years of silence Galileo is encouraged by the new Pope to resume his research into sunspots. PADUA, 1609 1 Galileo Galilei, teacher of mathematics, sets out to prove the Copernican view of the world. 9 YEARS LATER 10 The song of the spread of the terrible beliefs of Galileo.

VENICE, 1609 2 Galileo offers his new invention to Venice. FLORENCE, 1633 11 The inquisition orders Galileo to Rome.

PADUA, 10 JANUARY 1610 3 Galileo finds proof of the Copernican system. Warned by his friend of ROME, 1633 the consequences, Galileo affirms his faith in human reason. 12 The Pope.

FLORENCE, 1610 ROME, 22 JUNE 1633 4 Now working in Florence, Galileo’s discoveries are met with disbelief . Galileo, in front of the inquisition, recants his teachings on the 13 movement of the Earth. FLORENCE, 1611 5 Undeterred even by the plague, Galileo continues his research. NEAR FLORENCE, 1637 14 Galileo lives as a prisoner of the inquisition In a house in the country.

ROME, 1616 6 The Vatican’s research institute, The Collegium Romanum, confirms 1637 Galileo’s findings. 15 Galileo’s book ‘Discorsi’ crosses the Italian border.

8 9 So, science crossed the border and its here with us today Epilogue Now it’s got the power to blow us all away But we’re not much smarter and we’re totally corrupt The Song of There’s only one planet now and it's completely f___ed The Progress of Science If you’ve been paying attention, it will come as no surprise Use science wisely, or everybody dies

10 11 Directing Galileo Director Colin McColl talks about different versions of the play, its themes, and Brechtian trademarks

The is often It’s a play Brecht (and his many refered to as ‘the Brecht play collaborators) re-worked several for people who don’t like Brecht’ times. The first German version and while it’s not a parable premiered in Zurich in 1943 in play like Mother Courage and the midst of World War II. While Her Children, The Caucasian in exile in California, Brecht and actor Chalk Circle, or The Good Soul (together with others) worked of Szechuan, the Brechtian on an English language version. trademarks of bold storytelling, It was eventually presented in terrific characters, sprinkling Los Angeles and New York (with of Marxism and ironic humour Laughton as Galileo) soon after are there. the war with Japan ended with the Hiroshima atomic bombing. Brecht then created a third version of the script in the early 1950’s with his own company,

12 13 the , set up ponderous. We must play Galileo that they’ve lost a lot of and funded by the East German lightly and quickly. Not rushed but their original potency. communist government. with a quickness of thought, of However, we use some of The Life of Galileo is chock-full ideas. The ideas must be battered them in this production. of theme – chiefly a scientist’s back and forth between actors There’s direct address responsibility to humankind, the like a game of table tennis”. I was to audience by the actor conflict between blind faith and intrigued by this – as its true we playing Galileo. The titles reason, and the containment and often think of Brecht’s didactic (and purpose) of the scenes are announced before they begin, the scene changes are in full “The English believe that German theatre is view of the audience, heavy and ponderous. We must play Galileo and they will see actors preparing for a scene. lightly and quickly. Not rushed but with a Sometimes the sound quickness of thought, of ideas. The ideas must effects between scenes be battered back and forth between actors are deliberately irritating so that the audience like a game of table tennis”. will concentrate on the content of the following scenes. Song is used to break up the narrative. dispersal of scientific knowldege style as confronting- staunch, in- Costume changes, by those in power. Because state your-face and a little angry but in character doubling, cross authorities persist to ignore the fact whenever I have seen Brecht cultural and cross gender findings of scientists, particularly performed by German companies casting are deliberate – in the last few years, this Brecht it’s very relaxed, almost playful. all these devices are used play continues to have traction. So, in this production we’ve tried to stop the audience Shortly before his death in to take that on board. getting carried away by 1956 Brecht was preparing a Also all Brecht’s alienation the story, to observe and production of Galileo as part of “tricks” ( to ensure an audience question the point of his theatre, the Berliner Ensemble, “observe” the play rather than the scene and to cross to tour to London. He advised getting lost in the story) have examine the motives of his actors “The English believe been so incorporated into the the characters. that German theatre is heavy and way we present theatre today

14 15 Characters

In Brecht’s Epic theatre characters play the chorus represent the are often archetypes. Characters common people as ‘displaced relate to each other according refugees’ at the border. Whilst to their roles; they represent individual members of the chorus social figures, not individual occasionally have lines or cameo human beings. The play shows roles, they are unified through how people are oppressed by their movement and costume. authority’s hold on knowledge Other actors play multiple roles. to maintain their social position. Haanz Fa’avae Jackson, for example Galileo represents the search plays ‘the wealthy’ Ludovico and for the truth that will advance later appears as a street singer society and free people from their ‘the people’ and a border official place in the social order. ‘authority’, whilst Rima Te Wiata In this production a large cast appears as a Mathematician - bring these characters to life, a member of the establishment - EXTENSION ACTIVITIES including a chorus of young actors. and the ultimate authority figure in • How was the aging of the key characters made evident in In several scenes the chorus this play, The Pope. this production? represent the ‘people in power’; Three of the cast play only they are wealthy patrons in Venice single characters, all of whom age • What function does the Chorus serve in the play? How do and a flock of priests in Rome. 30 years in the play. Michael Hurst they relate to the audience and the company on stage? carries the weight of the story as These priests are conspicuous • Describe a moment where a character was the focus in the by their ever-circling presence Galileo, Amelia Rose Reynolds is performance. Think about and discuss the function of the like the eyes of the Inquisition, Virginia his long-suffering daughter, character in that moment: why that specific character was suggesting that everyone is being and Ravikanth Gurunathan is his the focus in that moment, their position on stage and the watched. Towards the end of the student and colleague Andrea. effect of the focus being drawn to the character.

16 17 Who’s Who? Characters in The Life of Galileo

He famously used the telescope Federzoni to observe the sky and saw that Fictional character the moon was full of craters, Skilled lens grinder and and that the stars in the sky Galileo’s friend, Federzoni, did not orbit around the Earth. lacked formal education but The Earth was not the centre was an eager supporter of of the universe and the sky Galileo’s work. Federzoni did not fit the description of a The Little Monk, Fulgenzio was one of the few pristine heaven as described Based on historical character characters who did not by centuries of Roman Catholic Fulgenzio Micanzio speak Latin, the language teachings. These observations Initially one of Galileo’s of higher learning and threatened the religious, many detractors, the Little theological thought until political and social influence Monk became Galileo’s pupil the 18th century. Galileo of the Church in 17th-century- Virginia, Galileo’s daughter and one of his most vocal made others speak in Italian Italy, which was no longer an Based on historical character supporters within the Catholic when Federzoni was in the empire and was divided into , born Virginia Galilei Church. In reality, Fulgenzio room and wrote his books small states. In 1632, Galileo Galileo’s daughter, Virginia, Micanzio kept his friendship in Italian, “the language of published Dialogue Concerning was a devout Catholic. She with Galileo and stood by fishwives and merchants” the Two Chief World Systems, wished for her father to him after his recantation. so they could be read by comparing the Copernican accept religion and resign Through Fulgenzio (not people like him. system, where the Earth and his academic pursuits. Her Andrea Sarti), Galileo was able other planets orbit the sun, engagement to Ludovico to deliver his manuscript for with the traditional Ptolemaic Marsili was compromised Discourses and Mathematical system, where everything in by her father’s controversial Demonstrations Relating to the universe circles around ideas. In real life, Virginia Two New to the Dutch publisher Elzevir. Galileo Galilei the Earth. Based on this book, was always considered Image credit (left to right): Based on historical character Galileo was accused of heresy, unworthy of marriage as she He also helped Galileo with Galileo Galilei_1635 Justus-Suttermans Galileo- Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist was forced to recant his work was born out of wedlock. practical matters, such as Galilei_Hakjosef, securing his pension from CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons and engineer, regarded as the father of modern and spent the rest of his life She entered a convent at the Maria Celeste_Wellcome Collection, physics. He spent his life making elementary under house arrest. The phrase age of thirteen and chose the Church. CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons discoveries that are known by most people today, '' is attributed her religious name, Maria (The Little Monk) Bryony Skillington. Image credit: Andi Crown such as the law of inertia and the relationship to Galileo as a sign of his Celeste, in honour of her (Federzoni) Taungaroa Emile. between distance and velocity. conviction to scientific truth. father’s astronomical work. Image credit: Andi Crown

18 19 Andrea Sarti Mrs Sarti Ludovico Marsili Fictional character Fictional character Fictional character Son of Galileo’s housekeeper Galileo’s housekeeper and Ludovico was a young and Galileo’s apprentice, Andrea Sarti’s mother was nobleman who sought to Andrea Sarti was one of his a practical woman who be Galileo’s student hoping Grand Inquisitor Clavius, the Astronomer most passionate pupils. represented the everyday it would bring him fortune. Based on historical character Vincenzo Maculani Based on historical character He was devastated by person. She was hesitant He was briefly engaged to The Grand Inquisitor searched for heretics who Christopher Clavius Galileo’s decision to about Galileo’s ideas but Galileo’s daughter, Virginia, contradicted the teachings of the Catholic faith. In the Christopher Clavius was the recant his research when remained loyal to him in but ended the engagement play, the Grand Inquisitor suggested to Pope Urban Vatican's chief scientist and threatened with torture by the mist of the plague and once he saw her father’s VIII that torture would force Galileo to recant his one of the most distinguished the Inquisition. despite her belief that reputation tarnished by the findings. However, records claim that, while Vincenzo astronomers of his age. Clavius living with a heretic may Church. Maculani was severe and uncompassionate, he was best-known for his work have ruined her chances for thought Galileo was too old and ill to undergo torture. in the 1582 Gregorian calendar eternal salvation. reform. Although he supported a geocentric model of the universe, he later accepted Galileo’s discoveries as correct.

Cosima de' Medici, Image credit (left to right): later The Grand Duchess (Andrea Sarti) Ravikanth Gurunathan. Based on historical character Vice-Chancellor Image credit: Andi Crown Cosimo II de' Medici, Fictional character (Mrs Sarti) Hera Dunleavy. Image credit: Andi Crown Grand Duke of Tuscany The Vice-Chancellor of Cardinal Bellarmin (Ludovico Marsili) Haanz Fa'avae-Jackson. Image credit: Andi Crown Cosima became Galileo’s the University of Padua Based on historical character (Grand Inquisitor) Vincenzo Maculani_Portrait of pupil when she was an was interested only Robert Bellarmine Vincentius Maculanus set within an oval turned left. impressionable nine- in the monetary value One of the most respected 1641 Engraving © The Trustees of the British Museum year-old. Galileo named (Christopher Clavius) Clavius_Francesco Villamena, Galileo brought to his Catholic theologians of his Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons the four moons of Jupiter university. To the Vice- time, Cardinal Bellarmin Cardinal Barberini, later Pope Urban VIII (Cosima de' Midici) Cosimo_II_de'_Medici_Various, Mediciean Stars in honour Chancellor, “knowledge is ordered Galileo to stop Based on historical character Pope Urban VIII/Maffeo Barberini Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons of Cosimo II de' Medici and a commodity”. His views teaching the Copernican Barberini was a lover of science who sought to (Vice-Chancellor) Cameron Rhodes. his three brothers. Cosimo Image credit: Andi Crown were representative of the theory as truth. He reinvigorate the Church. In the play, he opposed (Cardinal Bellarmin) Portrait of kardinaal Robertus became a patron of Galileo free-market mentality of the conceded to Galileo Galileo’s torture when pressed by the Grand Inquisitor. Bellarminus, MPM.VIV.110, Collectie Stad Antwerpen, by appointing him court Museum Plantin-Moretus. Republic of Venice as well presenting his findings as Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Photo: Bart huysmans and Michel Wuyts mathematician in Florence; as the independence it had mathematical hypotheses System used the character of Simplicio, an ignorant, (Cardinal Barberini) Portrait of Pope Urban VIII this allowed him to dedicate from the Roman Church and rather than fact. In 1930, he literal-minded character, to voice the Church’s traditional (Maffeo_Barberini)_Caravaggio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons more time to his research. Catholic censorship. was canonised a saint. views on the universe. 20 21 EPIC THEATRE CONTENT: EPIC THEATRE PRESENTATION:

• Aims to make the audience • Promotes interaction between THINK rather than FEEL performers and audience – including players addressing • Examines moral problems and Epic the audience directly dilemmas without resolving them • Interrupts the action with songs and poems to stop the Theatre • Is often structurally haphazard, audience becoming ‘lost’ in rather than progressing in an the story orderly way • Uses symbols, such as signs, film, screens, projection, and flags, to highlight ideas in a non-naturalistic way

• Shows the stage mechanics – the workings of the set, props and lights are visible rather “Art is not a mirror held up to reality than masked but a hammer with which to shape it.” Bertolt Brecht

Bertold Brecht is famous for revolutionary experiments by “The dramatic theatre’s spectator says: Yes, I have felt like creating “epic theatre”, a style director Erwin Piscator) but that too -- Just like me--It's only natural -- It'll never change- that constantly reminds the Brecht is the style’s most famous -The sufferings of this man appal me, because they are audience they’re watching a champion. performance, instead of drawing At the heart of Epic Theatre inescapable --That's great art; it all seems the most obvious them into the world of the play. is the ‘alienation effect’. thing in the world -- I weep when they weep, I laugh when Epic theatre is also called The original German term is they laugh. “dialectical theatre” or the “Verfremsdungeffekt”, which “theatre of alienation”. The style literally means “the effect of The epic theatre’s spectator says: I'd never have thought is in stark opposition to the making strange”. Brecht wanted it -- That's not the way -- That's extraordinary, hardly traditional ‘well-made’ play of audiences to realise that their way believable -- It's got to stop -- The sufferings of this man “dramatic theatre” or “Aristotelian of seeing the world was dictated drama”. Brecht did not invent by habit; he wanted to teach them appal me, because they are unnecessary -- That's great the term “Epic Theatre” (it was to challenge their preconceptions art; nothing obvious in it -- I laugh when they weep, I weep first used in connection with and look at things with fresh eyes. when they laugh.” Bertolt Brecht

22 23 Brecht outlined the differences between Epic Theatre and traditional EXTENSION ACTIVITIES Dramatic Theatre in a chart published in Brecht on Theatre in 1957:

• Identify three theatre technologies used in this production DRAMATIC THEATRE EPIC THEATRE that were typical of Epic Theatre. Describe them and explain Plot Narrative how they contributed to the alienation effect. Play has a beginning, middle and end. Performance begins anywhere, continues Issues raised are resolved. and stops. Issues are not resolved. • What is your response to Epic Theatre, based on this production and/or others you may have seen? Would you Implicates the spectator in a stage Turns the spectator into an observer but prefer to see an Epic or a dramatic performance? Why? situation arouses the capacity for action Suggests that what the audience is The audience must question what they • Try staging one of the scenes from this play in a naturalistic seeing is just like real life; wears down are seeing. mode. What difference does this make to the characters? capacity for action. Does it change the meaning of the lines, or affect your Provides spectator with sensations Forces spectator to take decisions response to them? Achieves ‘catharsis’, the release of Presents pain and suffering as problems emotions. to be solved.

Experience Picture of the world The audience is caught up in the ‘world’ The audience is not emotionally involved of the play. in the play.

The spectator is involved in something The spectator is made to face something

Suggestion Argument

Instinctive feelings are preserved Brought to the point of recognition

The spectator is in the thick of it, shares The spectator stands outside, studies the experience

The human being is taken for granted The human being is an object of inquiry

The human being is unalterable The human being is alterable and able Preconceptions are reinforced; ‘this is the to alter way it is’. Change is possible, for individuals and the world.

Eyes on the finish Eyes on the course

One scene makes another Each scene for itself

Linear development In curves

Evolutionary determinism Jumps

The human being is a fixed point The human being is a process

Thought determines being Social being determines thought

Feeling Reason Audience is encouraged to engage with Audience is required to question and to their emotions. think.

24 25 About the Playwright

established himself as a playwright and director during the 1920s and early 1930s with plays such as , Man Is Man, and . It was during this period that he started to form his theories of epic theatre which informed so much of his later work. In 1930, the premier of Brecht and Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny caused a riot as the increasingly influential Nazi Party objected to its morality and critical tone. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Brecht and his wife, actress , left and lived in a number of European cities before eventually settling in the USA in 1941 where he remained until 1947. German-born playwright, poet During the war years, he wrote and director, Bertolt Brecht was many of his best-known plays, born in Augsburg, Germany in including The Life of Galileo. February 1898. After the war he returned to Following a period working as Europe and formed the Berliner assistant to Max Reinhardt at the Ensemble. Brecht died in on famous Deutsches Theater, he 14 August 1956.

26 27 Brecht’s life was marked by conflict and controversy. • German citizenship revoked in 1935. Here are some key events: • Granted visa in 1941. • Lives in the US with his family for seven years, in Santa Monica and • Born in 1898, in Augsburg, Germany. New York. • Baptised a Protestant under the name Eugen Berthold Friedrich • Becomes a member of the Council for a Democratic Germany in 1944. Brecht. • Child born to Ruth Berlau in 1944; it does not survive. • Enrols in university in Munich to avoid the draft; attends for one semester before being drafted. • Called before the House of Un-American Activities in 1947. Testifies that he is not a member of the Communist Party. • Serves as a medical orderly for six months at the end of World War I. • Returns to Germany with his family in 1948. • Finishes his first play, Baal, in 1918. • Founds the Berliner Ensemble with Helene Weigel in 1949. • Son (Frank) is born to his lover, Paula Banholzer, in 1919. • Receives the Stalin Peace Prize in 1955. • Joins the Independent Social Democratic party in 1919, beginning a lifelong association with communism. • Dies of a heart-attack in 1956, at the age of 58. • First theatrical production, , presented in Munich in 1922. • Marries the opera singer and actress Marianne Zoff in 1922. • Daughter (Hanne Hiob) is born in 1923. • Moves to Berlin in 1924 and becomes consultant at Max Reinhardt's Deutches Theater. • Son (Stefan) born to his mistress, actress Helene Weigel, in 1924. “In his own life and in his writing, Brecht will literally • Divorces Marianne Zoff in 1927. recommend embracing the butcher, suggesting • Works in successful collaboration with Elisabeth Hauptman and Kurt compromises with the Nazis in the case of his own Weill throughout the late 1920s. brother and with the murderous Stalin regime when his • The Threepenny Opera first performed to great acclaim in 1928. own neck was at stake, and… making compromises • Marries Helene Weigel in 1929. both with witch hunters in America, and the Stalinist • Daughter (Barbara) born to Weigel in 1930. regime of the postwar German Democratic Republic. In real life, Herr Bertolt Brecht was always full of excuses • The Rise and Fall of the City of Mohagonny causes riots at the premiere in Leipzig in 1930. as to why it is too dangerous for him to practice kindness • In 1932, releases a film,, about the unemployed living in in the present.” shacks. It premieres in Moscow but is banned in Germany. John Fuegi, Brecht & Co. • Forced to leave Germany in 1933 by Hitler’s rise to power. • Flees to Denmark and spends next few years in exile travelling throughout Scandinavia.

28 29 30 31 Epic Production Design

Addressing the cast and crew at “I was interested in ideas of the design presentation on the containment of knowledge, first day of rehearsal, director knowledge as a commodity and Colin McColl talks about how he how knowledge gets dispersed. and the creative team developed There seemed to be a nice parallel the production’s aesthetic in between the scientific discoveries response to the play’s themes: of the seventeenth century when the play is set and the modern post-war period, the late 1940’s to early 50s, which also saw a great outburst of knowledge. It was the cold war period, the beginning of the technological age, and the nuclear age.”

32 33 Set Design: Sean Coyle

Whilst not slavish to the post-war The other two smaller containers The window on the back wall Scene titles are projected on to period, the production design is are scaffold towers dressed to serves several purposes. It is the false proscenium so we know informed by it. look like containers, and as they a projection screen conveying what’s going to happen before You can see the influence of are turned the scaffold skeleton is images by visual designer we see it. In keeping with the brutalist architecure in the set deliberately visible to the audience Harley Campbell that set the Cold War aesthetic the font is old design by Sean Coyle with its - in true Brechtian style. location, and a surveillance tower fashioned typewriter typeface. concrete floor, concrete back wall We can also see all the workings where various characters appear (with large opening) and concrete of the theatre – everything in to watch Galileo. false proscenium arch. This is the wings, props tables, stage echoed by the industrial shipping managers, actors changing, and containers, large ladder and the waiting to come on. use of ‘clunky technology’ like Similarly, the scene changes overhead projectors. are not elegant transitions but Sean tells the company, seen in a brutal way under worker “Containers seemed an lights in full view of the audience. obvious choice for looking at Colin says, “We snap from one how knowledge is contained, scene into a scene change, then commodified, and spread around back into the next scene. Its like the world.” Like much of the stage fifteen scenes of Galileo’s life, we furniture, each container moves, see the character in this situation, and the large scaffold staircase is then that and there’s thinking time on lockable wheels (like you would between each scene so then the find in a warehouse). They can be audience puts it all together at the configured to create different stage end of the evening.” pictures, different scales of spaces, Another set element is the and various entrances and exits. windows. A large window flies in The largest container is 2.4 to the space when Galileo moves metres high with lockable wheels. to the lavish court of the Medicis. It is used as Galileo’s roof where Galileo writes on the window, like he and Federzoni watch the stars. a screen, and it creates another When turned around completely it layer of space and views between opens out to reveal the interior of the largest container and the back the Vatican. wall with its sinister opening.

34 35 Costume Design: Elizabeth Whiting

There are 80 costumes in the play. a hint of seventeenth century high Costume designer Elizabeth camp in the masks, lip stick and Whiting tells the company, eye shadow. The Pope is dressed ‘’Galileo values the working man. in all his glory in full view of the I wanted to make the contrast audience. between the working people and A challenge of the production the people in power, including the is actors doubling as other Church. So, I have done this with characters. Hera Dunleavy, for colour. The working people are in example, plays lowly Mrs Sarti earth tones, whilst the wealthy are and the sinister Grand Inquisitor. in colourful luxurious fabrics and It is important to contrast the the priests are in black cassocks. costumes of these two characters The Pope wears all the riches to make the difference clear to the of the Church. Galileo is in light audience. colours to stand out from the set.” Other actors play one character Elizabeth has incorporated some only, but age 30 years in the play period touches of the 1940s & 50s (Andrea, Virginia, Galileo). This is into the costumes off the Grand achieved without adding makeup, Inquisitor, and she injects colour but by costume and the actor’s into the party scene in Rome with characterisation.

36 37 38 39 Music: John Gibson

“In the dark times Will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.” Bertolt Brecht

Music has always been integral beauty and majesty of God to to epic theatre. Songs and music the people. John has sourced provide breaks in the narrative a recorded reproduction of a for ideas to be explored in more Mass in 1610 which he has had depth, questions posed to the deconstructed (‘destroyed’) audience, and the mood altered. by guitarist David Kilgour. John Musical director John Gibson is also using recordings of points out that Brecht “makes organ pipes for reverberation musical styles fight”. For this to create sinister sounds that production, John wants music build pressure. Sometimes the that is emblematic of power. soundtrack in the scene changes John wants to use music in will be deliberately discordant the same way that the Church and irritating to shake the did at the time, to convey the audience up.

40 41 EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

• Discuss the idea of Brechtian staging in relation to this production. What stage mechanics were visible to the audience? How did the performers contribute to creating the performance environment as part of their stage action? What purpose did this serve?

• Brechtian theatre is often performed on a bare stage with no set whatsoever. Imagine you are staging such a production. Identify how you could use props / costumes to indicate changes in time or location.

• Discuss the upstage window effect that provided the symbolic and literal representation of surveillance. What was the impact of this effect?

• How did lighting contribute to the alienation effect in this production?

• Find three advertising or magazine images of contrasting ‘characters’. Explain what you can read about this character from the clothing each is wearing. Now cut up the images and combine them to make a new character. How does your creation differ from its original elements?

• Choose one musical moment from the production and explain how music was used to create or enhance the alienation effect. What did the timing / style / production method of this interlude contribute?

42 43 44 45 Readings and Resources

Galileo Galilei – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei Accessed 15.06.21 Web.

Life of Galileo website https://lifeofgalileo.weebly.com/index.html Accessed 15.06.21 Web.

Jones, Alexander Raymond. "Ptolemaic system". Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 May. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/science/Ptolemaic-system Accessed 15.06.21 Web.

“Bertolt Brecht and the Epic Theater”. Oregon State University. http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ger341/brechtet.htm Publication date unknown. Accessed 15.06.21 Web.

“An Introduction to Brechtian Theatre” – National Theatre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-828KqtTkA Accessed 15.06.21 Web.

Fuegi, John. Brecht & Co: Sex, Politics and the Making of the Modern Drama. Grove Press: New York, 2002. Print.

Thomson, Peter and Glendyr Sacks. The Cambridge Companion to Brecht. Cambridge University Press: New York, 2008. Print.

46 47 ATC Creative Curriculum Learning Links Encouraging acts of imagination

ATC Creative Learning promotes and encourages teaching and ATC Education activities relate directly to the PK, UC and CI strands of participation in theatre and acts as a resource for secondary and the NZ Curriculum from levels 5 to 8. They also have direct relevance to tertiary educators. It is a comprehensive and innovative arts many of the NCEA achievement standards at all three levels. education programme designed to nurture young theatre practitioners and audiences. All secondary school Drama The NCEA external examinations students (Years 9 to 13) should be at each level (Level 1 – AS90011, Whether we are unpacking a students throughout the greater experiencing live theatre as a part Level 2 – AS91219, Level 3 – AS91518) play, creating a new work, Auckland region with a focus of their course work, Understanding require students to write about live or learning new skills we are on delivering an exciting and the Arts in Context. Curriculum theatre they have seen. Students encouraging habits of thinking popular programme that supports levels 6, 7 and 8 (equivalent to who are able to experience fully that foster acts of imagination the Arts education of Auckland years 11, 12 and 13) require the produced, professional theatre are to take place. students and which focuses on inclusion of New Zealand drama in generally advantaged in answering ATC Creative Learning has curriculum development, literacy, their course of work. these questions. direct contact with school and the Arts.

48 49 YANG/

BY SHERRY ZHANG YOUNG/AND NUANZHI ZHENG DIRECTED BY NATHAN JOE

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