Brecht's Key Plays

Brecht's Key Plays

1. The Threepenny Opera

   • musical theatre
   • satire on operas
   • socialist look on capitalism
   • shows the life of the poor
   • reminder of the lack of unhappy endings in reality

2. The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

   • shows Hitler's rise to power
     • mocks his rise and character
   • shows the life of a mobster
   • Ui is seen as scrawny and weak until he has his henchmen
     • with the help of stronger, menacing characters he is powerful

3. Mother Courage and her Children

   • set in the thirty years war
   • shows the life of a mother making her way through the war
     • she has to bargain her way to safety
   • she loses each of her children as the play progresses
     • this is the only way she can get by
   • tragedy
     • also has comedic elements however

4. Fear and Misery of the Third Reich

   • mini playlets
   • shows the life of everyday people building up to ww2
   • focuses on the everyday lives of people shattering by war
   • anti-Nazi and anti-war play
   • non-linear structure
   • evokes multiple feelings from the audience
     • compassion
     • disgust

5. Other Plays

   • The Caucasian Chalk Circle
   • Life of Galileo
   • Mr Puntilla and his Man Matti
   • The Private Life of the Master Race
   • Seven Deadly Sins
   • Baal

6. Other Information

   • his plays influenced theatre hugely
   • has a clear message in his plays
   • usually focusing on social/ political events