Image taken from mystudentstuff.co.uk
It is no secret to those who know me that Bertolt Brecht is one of my favourite playwrights of all time. I was extremely happy that I had the opportunity to study more on Brecht and his works this year at Uni in my 20th Century Theatre course. This play was the one we focused on in class and - like the other plays I have read from him - it is a REALLY good play!
The title gives away what the play is all about - it details the life of Galileo, as told through Brecht's "epic theatre" style. It talks about his scientific discoveries, the church's rejections to these new findings, and his "forced" recantation, in order to continue his work.
Like many of Brecht's plays, the play can be easily applied to a variety of contemporary themes. When it was first produced in the Zurich Shauspielhaus in 1938, the issue of "the need to smuggle the truth out of Nazi Germany" was embedded in the text (p. xiii). Later, when the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945, the interpretation of the play was changed to suit the new contemporary issue of the use of technology (pp. xiii). Reading through the play, I couldn't help but think of possible contemporary interpretations for today e.g. the media and how they distort truth, government corruption..... the list is endless.
This play is a DEFINITE must-read for Brecht fans everywhere!
No comments:
Post a Comment