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Daring to Play DARING TO PLAY Translated into English for the first time, Daring To Play: A Brecht Companion is the study of Bertolt Brecht’s theatre by Manfred Wekwerth, Brecht’s co-director and former director of the Berliner Ensemble. Wekwerth aims to challenge prevailing myths and misconceptions about Brecht’s theatre, instead providing a refreshing and accessible approach to his plays and theatrical craft. The book is rich in infor- mation, examples and anecdotal detail from first-hand acquaintance with Brecht and rehearsal with the Berliner Ensemble. Wekwerth pro- vides a detailed practical understanding of how theatre operates with a clear perspective on the interface between politics and art. Warm and engaging, while also being provocative and challenging, Daring to Play displays the continued vitality of Brecht’s true approach to theatre makers today. Manfred Wekwerth worked in the Berliner Ensemble as assistant and co-director with Bertolt Brecht, and was the Ensemble’s principal director after Brecht’s death. He founded the first school of director- training in the German Democratic Republic in 1969, and directed throughout Germany and Europe in such theatres as the Schauspielhaus, Zürich, the Burgtheater, Vienna and the National Theatre in London. He led the Berliner Ensemble as Intendant from 1977 until 1991 and, until 1990, was President of the Akademie der Künste of the GDR. DARING TO PLAY A Brecht Companion (Originally published as Mut zum Genuss – Ein Brecht-Handbuch für Spieler, Zuschauer, Mitstreiter und Streiter) Manfred Wekwerth Edited with an Introduction by Anthony Hozier Translated by Rebecca Braun First published 2009 in German as Mut zum Genuss by Kai Homilius Verlag, Werder This English translation first published 2011 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Original text © 2009 Kai Homilius Verlag, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Translation © 2011 Routledge Selection and Editorial Matter © 2011 Anthony Hozier All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Wekwerth, Manfred. [Mut zum Genuss. English] Daring to play : a Brecht companion / by Manfred Wekwerth; edited with an introduction by Anthony Hozier; translated by Rebecca Braun. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Brecht, Bertolt, 1898-1956–Dramatic production. 2. Brecht, Bertolt, 1898–1956–Criticism and interpretation. 3. Theater – Germany (East) – History – 20th century. 4. Wekwerth, Manfred. I. Hozier, Anthony. II. Title. PT2603.R397Z894513 2011 832’.912 – dc22 2010049615 ISBN: 978-0-415-56968-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-56969-9 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-81471-0 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Taylor & Francis Books CONTENTS Illustrations vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction by Anthony Hozier xi Note on Text and Translation xv Preface by Manfred Wekwerth xvi 1 Brecht’s Theatre – An Extended Overview 1 Brechtian Theatre Today – An Attempt in Seven Days: Stockholm seminar 3 Brecht’s ‘Simplicity’–A Somewhat Deviant Contribution to a Brecht Conference 92 Brechtian Theatre – An Opportunity for the Future? 109 2 Political Perspectives 131 The Left’sDifficulties with Culture, or The Practical Use of Brechtian Slogans – Polemical Thoughts 133 The Uncertain Thing about Certainty – A Dubious Eulogy 143 3 Theatre Making – The Fabel 151 Keyword – Fabel – 1978 in Utopian Retrospective 153 Translation, Adaptation, Dramatization 174 v CONTENTS 4 Two Speeches – Two Moments of Change 187 On the Re-opening of the Berliner Ensemble after Six Months of Reconstruction Work in September 1989 189 On the Opening of the Academy for Performing Arts in Delitzsch in March 2008 198 5 Enjoying the Final Fruits 207 The Secret Service’s Open Secret – Thoughts on the ‘Brecht file’, Now to be Made Public by the FBI by Order of the Supreme Court of the USA 209 Party Game 212 Notes 217 Manfred Wekwerth Chronology and Key Publications 225 Further Reading 231 Index 233 vi ILLUSTRATIONS 1 Manfred Wekwerth in rehearsal of Richard III, Act I, with Renate Richter as Lady Anne and Helmuth Lohner as Richard, at Schauspielhaus, Zürich (1974). (Photograph in possession of Manfred Wekwerth.) 31 2 Arturo UI in rehearsal with Siegfried Kilian, Hilmar Thate and Ekkehard Schall, Berliner Ensemble (1959). (Photograph courtesy of Vera Tenschert.) 51 3 Ekkehard Schall as Arturo Ui (first performed 1959). (Photograph courtesy of Vera Tenschert.) 52 4 Mother Courage curses the war (Scene 6). (Copy by R. Berlau/Hoffmann.) 64 5 Coriolanus at the National Theatre, London, with Anthony Hopkins as Coriolanus and Constance Cummings as Volumnia (1971). (John Timbers/ArenaPAL.) 71 6 Mother Courage hears the shooting of her son (Scene 3). (Copy by R. Berlau/Hoffmann.) 80 7 Image from Life magazine used by Weigel for ‘silent scream’ in Scene 3 of Mother Courage. (Photograph courtesy of Getty Images.) 81 8 Manfred Wekwerth in rehearsal for Galileo (Danish version), Berliner Ensemble, with Ekkehard Schall and Michael Gerber (1977). (Photograph courtesy of Vera Tenschert.) 84 9 Galileo (Danish version), Berliner Ensemble, with Ekkehard Schall and Renate Richter (1978). (Photograph courtesy of Vera Tenschert.) 84 10 Manfred Wekwerth with Gisela May in rehearsal for Mother Courage, Berliner Ensemble (1980). (Photograph courtesy of Vera Tenschert.) 127 vii ILLUSTRATIONS 11 Courage sets off to follow the army (Scene 13). (Copy by R. Berlau/Hoffmann.) 168 12 Manfred Wekwerth co-directing with Brecht in rehearsal of Caucasian Chalk Circle, Carl Weber on left (1954). (Photograph by Horst E. Schulze in possession of Manfred Wekwerth.) 204 13 (l. to r.) Carlo Ponti, Sophia Loren, Vittorio de Sica, Wolf Kaiser, Kurt Bork, Manfred Wekwerth, Helene Weigel (Berlin, 1963). (Photograph by Karl Leher, courtesy of Tassilo Leher.) 225 14 With Helene Weigel in canteen of Berliner Ensemble (1965). (Photograph courtesy of Vera Tenschert.) 226 15 (l. to r. facing camera) Hilmar Thate, Manfred Wekwerth, Paolo Grassi, Giorgio Strehler, Helene Weigel (Venice 1966). (Photograph in possession of Manfred Wekwerth.) 227 16 Manfred Wekwerth (c.) with Helene Weigel, Helmut Baierl and Joachim Tenschert at the Brecht/Weigel house in Buckow (1967). (Photograph courtesy of Vera Tenschert.) 228 17 Manfred Wekwerth at the Brecht/Weigel house in Buckow (2006). (Photograph courtesy of Angelika Haas.) 229 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I particularly wish to thank Professor Nesta Jones and the Research Committee of Rose Bruford College for generously providing a grant towards this translation. Manfred Wekwerth has had a close relation- ship with the college since he was invited to lead its Symposium on Brecht in 2000 and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in 2002. It is fitting, therefore, that the college should now be able support the translation of the first of his books to appear in English. It has been a great pleasure to work with Rebecca Braun on this translation. Through our continual dialogue her care and attention to detail has enabled me to learn so much more about the things I thought I knew. I know that Rebecca herself, in turn, would like to thank Tom Kuhn and Ritchie Robertson for their advice in response to occasional issues of translation. For permission to include photographs, I would like to thank the following: Vera Tenschert, Hilda Hoffmann, Manfred Wekwerth, Tassilo Leher, Getty Images and ArenaPAL. I would also like to thank the following people for their help in tracing images: Frau Uta Kohl and Dr Asja Braune of Bertolt-Brecht-Archiv/Akademie der Künste, Grischa Meyer and Amy Stolarczyk. Every effort has been made to seek permission to reproduce copyright material before the book went to press. If any proper acknowledgement has not been made, the publisher would invite copyright holders to inform them of the oversight. I would also like to thank the staff of the Library of Rose Bruford College for their support in tracking texts and other material. At Routledge, I would like to thank Talia Rodgers for her enthu- siasm, great encouragement and advice, and Niall Slater for his unfailing support and guidance. I owe thanks to Bernd Keßler and Chris Baldwin, theatre directors and friends, who brought Manfred Wekwerth to lead a symposium in ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the UK a decade ago. Finally, I want to express my gratitude to two people who have been particularly generous with their time and help: to Grit Eckert for her boundless patience and support in assisting me in correspondence; and to Angelika Haas for her friendly advice on many matters and for all she has done in helping me to secure illustrations for this book. AH x INTRODUCTION It is remarkable how little of Manfred Wekwerth’s published writing is available in English. So much continues to be written about Brecht, yet the work of his assistant, leading collaborator and successor at the Berliner Ensemble, though often quoted, remains largely untranslated. None of Wekwerth’s half dozen books on Brecht and theatre is avail- able in English – and less than a handful of his numerous articles on theatre, culture and politics. This matters because Wekwerth is one of the last of Brecht’skey assistants and co-directors at the Berliner Ensemble to have remained consistently active in the theatre. (Or alive; others – like Besson, Rülicke, Monk, Palitzsch, together with leading actor Ekkehard Schall – have now gone.) He therefore represents a direct link for us with Brecht’s own mature practice. Wekwerth was taken on by Brecht as a student at the Berliner Ensemble in 1951 and he went on to assist and or co-direct with Brecht on such productions as The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Winter- schlacht, Katzgraben and The Mother.
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