Word: brecht
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PLAYED AT ITS BEST, Bertolt Brecht's work has the beauty and finesse of a perfectly constructed essay. Its proclaimed intention to be an entertainment of ideas emphasizes its immediacy and relevance; its values cannot be dismissed as belonging to a dramatized world unto itself. The current production of Brecht's A Man's A Man comes off as a fine set of paragraphs missing their conclusion, and Brecht's moral purpose is lost in the disunity. A sardonic comedy deeply involved with modern man's anonymity, it loses its own identity. Much is lively and comic in this production...
...especially strong ones, and eventually triggers Five's disgrace. Bloody Five's bravura balances Galy's passive foolishness. As surely as the latter metamorphoses into the army beast, the former weakens and falls. It's grim stuff of which to make laughter, and the comedy does become pretty sinister. Brecht mines the parallel veins of humor and despair, and the production succeeds in emulating him--almost...
Durrenmett, one of Bertolt Brecht's most skillful disciples, works for "epic theater"--theater that tells its story without attempting to delude the audience that it is actually happening. He has cut Strindberg's work up into small sections, added and subtracted material, and worked out changes in collaboration with the actors who first produced the work. There is typically Brechtian disrespect for the sanctity of the source, and a typically Brechtian effort at distancing the audience through frequent interruptions...
...Threepenny Opera. A fine pedigree, extanding from John Gey's 18th Century original. The Begger's Opera, to its adaptation by Bertoit Brecht and Kurt Weill in the twenties, comes through the excellent Leverett House production unbesmirched. The Old Library Theatre sees a bit of the ultra-violence as the Knife spills the opera's good Mend freely. Here comes a big, but there goes the neighborhood...
...Leverett House production is not perfect by any means, but gets a small boost from Peter Agoo's set--consisting largely of bundles of hay--that is versatile and funny. Ultimately, though, it's what Brecht says that is important and Weill's music comes through triumphantly, making The Threepenny Opera a masterpiece...