Book contents
- Bertolt Brecht in Context
- Bertolt Brecht in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figure
- Notes on Contributors
- Chronology
- Abbreviations
- Preface
- A Note on Brecht in English
- Introduction
- Part I Brecht’s World
- Chapter 1 Brecht’s Augsburg Years
- Chapter 2 Models for Epic Theater from the Munich Years:
- Chapter 3 Brecht in the Weimar Republic
- Chapter 4 Brecht’s Emergence as a Young Poet
- Chapter 5 Brecht and Music: The Fly in the Amber
- Chapter 6 Brecht and Political Theater
- Chapter 7 Brecht and Germany
- Chapter 8 “[She] made suggestions. We took them”: Bertolt Brecht’s Women Collaborators
- Chapter 9 Brecht’s Interviews
- Chapter 10 Brecht and Exile
- Chapter 11 Brecht and the German Democratic Republic
- Chapter 12 The Berliner Ensemble
- Part II Brecht’s Work
- Part III The World’s Brecht
- Concise Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 12 - The Berliner Ensemble
from Part I - Brecht’s World
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 May 2021
- Bertolt Brecht in Context
- Bertolt Brecht in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figure
- Notes on Contributors
- Chronology
- Abbreviations
- Preface
- A Note on Brecht in English
- Introduction
- Part I Brecht’s World
- Chapter 1 Brecht’s Augsburg Years
- Chapter 2 Models for Epic Theater from the Munich Years:
- Chapter 3 Brecht in the Weimar Republic
- Chapter 4 Brecht’s Emergence as a Young Poet
- Chapter 5 Brecht and Music: The Fly in the Amber
- Chapter 6 Brecht and Political Theater
- Chapter 7 Brecht and Germany
- Chapter 8 “[She] made suggestions. We took them”: Bertolt Brecht’s Women Collaborators
- Chapter 9 Brecht’s Interviews
- Chapter 10 Brecht and Exile
- Chapter 11 Brecht and the German Democratic Republic
- Chapter 12 The Berliner Ensemble
- Part II Brecht’s Work
- Part III The World’s Brecht
- Concise Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines the Berliner Ensemble, the theater company Brecht and his wife Helene Weigel founded in East Berlin in 1949. It considers Brecht’s desire to create an ensemble to help realize the theoretical positions he had drafted while in exile and the difficulties the Berliner Ensemble faced in its infancy. These included a lack of theater space for a new company in the wake of the devastation of World War II and intense ideological hostility from the ruling party. At times, the problems encountered posed a direct threat to the BE’s very existence, yet it was the quality of its work that ultimately saved it and allowed it to thrive on the international stage.
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- Bertolt Brecht in Context , pp. 105 - 112Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021