Word: nellhaus
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...most important offerings are verso plays: one a translation by Gerhard Nellhaus of Bertolt Brecht's "The Lesson," the other an original one-acter, "Three Words in No Time," by Lyon Phelps. "The Lesson," which is the better of the two, I think, defies analysis. It has almost no action, its characters have no individuality (they are called "The Speaker," "A One" and such), it has a chorus and a musical background, the audience is expected to join in and repeat certain lines. The ostensible topic of discussion is a crashed airman who is on the verge of death...
...Lesson," of course, is fearfully modern and different, and hence it is almost impossible to assess. I found it very interesting. Nellhaus' translation appears to be excellent: certainly the play emerges in English as well worth reading, and its poetry is smooth...