Berliner Ensemble Adaptations: The Tutor; Coriolanus; The Trial of Joan of Arc at Rouen, 1431; Don Juan; Trumpets and Drums

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This volume contains Brechts post-1950 adaptations of world dramatic classics for the Berliner Ensemble. Brechts remodeled versions show all of the great dramatists characteristic preoccupations: hatred of personal greatness, admiration of the people and hatred of war unless waged on behalf of the people who, to him, were the embodiment of wisdom and good sense. The Tutor is a 1950s adaptation of an 18th century play by J.M.R. Lenz and is a savage portrait of the subservience of German intellectuals and schoolmasters to the whims of the rich and powerful. Coriolanus is an unfinished adaptation of Shakespeares play, using the Roman story to reflect Marxist theories of class struggle. Don Juan, a collaborative adaptation of Molires play, redefines the charming social parasite as both a ridiculous egoist and an example of a dangerously attractive, theatrically mythic personality type. The Trial of Joan of Arc at Rouen adapts a radio play by Anna Seghers which was based on the original records of the trial of Joan of Arc. Trumpets and Drums is an adaptation of Farquhars 18th century Restoration comedy The Recruiting Officer, which transfers the action to the American Civil War and introduces comments on imperialism and colonial conquest.

Author Bio

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is acknowledged as one of the great dramatists whose plays, work with the Berliner Ensemble and critical writings have had a considerable influence on the theatre. His landmark plays include The Threepenny Opera, Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, The Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. David Barnett is Reader in Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Sussex. He has published books on German theatre (studies on Heiner Mller and Rainer Werner Fassbinder), and has also published several essays and articles on German-, English-language, political and postdramatic theatre.