Table Of ContentPERFORMING BRECHT
In 1969 Peter Brook wrote: ‘Brecht is the key figure of our time, and all theatre work today at
some point starts from or returns to his statements and achievement.’ Twenty-five years later
the same still holds true. Sooner or later every theatre student, whether theory- or practice-
based, will study Brecht. But the relationship between Brecht and British theatre has always
been a problematic and controversial one.
Performing Brecht sheds light on this relationship in an unprecedented history of the pro-
ductions of Brecht’s plays in Britain over the last forty years. Margaret Eddershaw surveys all
aspects of Brecht in performance, from his methodologies to his place in postmodernist
theatre and beyond. She focuses on key productions by directors including George Devine,
Sam Wanamaker, William Gaskill, Howard Davies, John Dexter and Richard Eyre. Eddershaw
also provides in-depth case studies of three productions of the 1990s, incorporating her own
exclusive access to the rehearsals and interviews with the directors and performers. The case
studies are:
• The Good Person of Sichuan, directed by Deborah Warner, starring Fiona Shaw
• The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, directed by Di Trevis, starring Antony Sher
• Mother Courage, directed by Philip Prowse, starring Glenda Jackson
This unique work will be indispensable for students, teachers and theatre practitioners, and
enlightening and accessible reading for anyone interested in the theatre and in Brecht.
Margaret Eddershaw was a founder member of the Department of Theatre Studies at Lancaster
University, and during her twenty-five years there she combined an academic career with
professional performing, directing and playwriting. She now lives in Greece, where she contin-
ues to write on and for the theatre.
PERFORMING BRECHT
Forty years of British performances
Margaret Eddershaw
London and New York
First published 1996
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
Routledge is an International Thomson Publishing company
© 1996 Margaret Eddershaw
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 and 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 Cataloguing in Publication Data
Eddershaw, Margaret.
Performing Brecht/Margaret Eddershaw.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Brecht, Bertolt, 1898–1956 – Stage history – Great Britain. 2. Brecht, Bertolt, 1898–1956 –
Dramatic production. 3. Theater–Great Britain – History – 20th century. I. Title.
PT2603.R397Z5935 1996
792.9´5´0941 – dc20 95-52603
CIP
ISBN 0-415-08010-X (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-08011-8 (pbk)
ISBN 0-203-12983-0 Master e–book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-17784-3 (Glassbook Format)
For Keith
How long
Do works endure? As long
As they are not completed.
Since as long as they demand effort
They do not decay
Bertolt Brecht
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
List of abbreviations x
INTRODUCTION 1
1 BRECHT AND THE PERFORMER:
MEASURING THE DISTANCE 8
Practitioners who influenced the young Brecht 9
The performer’s distance in epic theatre 13
The epic theatre audience 16
Brecht and Stanislavski 18
The actor and the role 19
The actor and the audience 21
Decreasing the distance between Brecht and Stanislavski 23
Choosing his actors 26
Acting at the Berliner Ensemble 34
2 PERFORMING EARLY BRITISH BRECHT:
FOLLOWING THE BERLINER 40
Preparing for Brecht 41
Brecht slips into Britain 42
Theatre Workshop and Mother Courage 45
English Stage Company and The Threepenny Opera 47
The Royal Court and The Good Woman of Setzuan 51
Brecht and British playwrights 55
William Gaskill and British Brecht of the 1960s 57
The Berliner Ensemble returns 64
3 PERFORMING BRECHT POST-1968:
THE RADICAL RESPONSES 66
The ‘booming’ 1960s 66
The development of alternative theatre 68
Brecht by the radical touring companies 72
vii
CONTENTS
Brecht at the radical repertory theatres 78
Summary 90
4 PERFORMING ‘CLASSICAL’ BRECHT:
MAKING THE STRANGE FAMILIAR 92
Brecht at the Royal Shakespeare Company 94
Brecht at the National Theatre 104
The National Theatre on Tour 117
Summary 117
5 PERFORMING BRECHT IN THE 1990s:
THREE APPROACHES TO POST-WALL BRECHT 119
The legacy of the late 1980s 119
The Good Person of Sichuan at the National Theatre, 1989 123
Mother Courage at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, 1990 129
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the National Theatre, 1991 140
Summary 149
6 PERFORMING BRECHT IN THE TWENTY-FIRST
CENTURY: DINOSAURS CAME LATER 151
Brecht and the postmodern 151
A new view of The Life of Galileo? 153
Transforming the audience 157
Brecht and Bond 164
The way forward for British Brecht? 170
Notes 174
Bibliography 178
Index 181
viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I should like to thank all the actors, directors and writers who have given so generously of their
time and insights and have allowed me access to their work.
I am indebted in particular to Professor Keith Sturgess of the Department of Theatre
Studies, Lancaster University, who has been a constant source of support and encouragement
throughout the writing of this book.
ix
