David Barnett is Professor of Theatre at the University of York, UK. He has published monographs on Heiner Müller (1998) and Rainer Werner Fassbinder (2005, paperback 2009), and co-edited a volume and edited a special issue of Contemporary Theatre Review on contemporary German theatre. His history of the Berliner Ensemble was published in 2015, and he edited the anthology of Bertolt Brecht's Berliner Ensemble Adaptations (Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2014).Enoch Brater is the Kenneth T. Rowe Collegiate Professor of Dramatic Literature, Professor of English and Theater at the University of Michigan and the series editor of Methuen Drama's Miller scholarly editions. He has written extensively on the work of Samuel Beckett and Arthur Miller.Enoch Brater is the Kenneth T. Rowe Collegiate Professor of Dramatic Literature, Professor of English and Theater at the University of Michigan. He is series editor of Methuen Drama's Arthur Miller scholarly editions, and with Mark Taylor-Batty of Methuen Drama's Engage series. He has written extensively on the work of Samuel Beckett and Arthur Miller.Mark Taylor-Batty is Associate Professor of Theatre Studies and Deputy Head of School in the School of English at the University of Leeds, UK. His previous publications include The Theatre of Harold Pinter (Bloomsbury, 2014), About Pinter: The Playwright and the Work (Faber and Faber, 2005), Roger Blin: Collaborations and Methodologies (Peter Lang, 2007) and, he co-authored with his wife, Juliette Taylor-Batty, Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (Continuum, 2009).

A re-examination of Bertolt Brecht in light of his theoretical writings and his work in the theatre.

A re-examination of Bertolt Brecht in light of his theoretical writings and his work in the theatre.

AcknowledgementsOne: Revealing the Radical TheoristTwo: The Messingkauf as Performative Thinking Three: Brecht and DifferenceFour: Method Trumps MeansFive: Brecht and the ActorSix: Brecht and the DirectorSeven: Brecht, Documentation and the Art of Copying Eight: Brecht's Method in Action: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Closer by Patrick MarberEpilogueEndnotesIndex

David Barnett invites readers, students and theatre-makers to discover new ways of apprehending and making use of Brecht in this clear and accessible study of Brecht's theories and practices. The book analyses how Brecht's ideas can come alive in rehearsal and performance, and reveals just how carefully Brecht realized his vision of a politicized, interventionist theatre. What emerges is a nuanced understanding of Brecht's concepts, his work with actors and his approaches to directing. The reader is encouraged to engage with his method which sought to 'make theatre politically', in order to appreciate the innovations he introduced into his stagecraft. Barnett provides many examples of how Brecht's ideas can be staged, and the final chapter takes a closer look at two very different plays: one written by Brecht and one by a playwright with no acknowledged connection to Brecht. Through an interrogation of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Patrick Marber's Closer, Barnett asks how a Brechtian approach can enliven and illuminate production.