Brecht Bertolt (1898-1956)

Bertolt Brecht

Short Biography

Brecht Bertolt (1898-1956)

German dramatist and poet. Born in Augsburg at February 10, 1898. He aimed to destroy the "suspension of disbelief" usual in the theatre and to express Marxist ideas. He adapted John Gay's Beggar's Opera as Die Dreigroschenoper/The threepenny Opera (1928), set to music by Kurt Weill. Later plays include Mutter Courage/Mother Courage (1941), set in the thirty Years' War, and Der kaukasische Kreidekreis/The Caucasian chalk Circle (1949).
As an anti-Nazi, he left Germany in 1933 for Scandinavia and the USA. He became an Australian citizen after World War II, and in 1949 establishes the Berliner Ensemble theatre group in East Germany.

 

Bertolt Brecht's quotes

Quotes on theatre and acting

• Drama schools, neglect the need for observation and mimesis of the objective of this observation. Young actors have the tendency to express themselves without taking into account the stimulus they receive and in which they owe the way they express. The actor has not only to produce poetic morphs but also to recreate and elaborate constantly real types from his surrounding. For the actor the entire world transforms into a theatre and himself in a spectator. (Uber den Beruf des Schauspielers)
• An actor never closes his door to any joy or sorrow. These feelings are necessary to his work because his first thought is to remain human. (Uber den Beruf des Schauspielers)
• Success: Mr K. saw an actress passing by and said: «She is beautiful». «Lately she had a success because of her beauty», his escort informed him. Mr K. got angry and said: «No, she is beautiful because she had a success». (Stories from Mr Keuner-B.Brecht)