Bertolt Brecht

Born in 1898 in Augsburg. Is considered one of the most important German dramatists and theatre reformers of the 20th century. Studied natural sciences, medicine and literature at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich from 1917 to 1918. Already during his studies Brecht began to write plays. From 1922 he worked as a dramaturg at the Munich Kammerspiele. From 1924 to 1926 he was a director at Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater in Berlin. Important early works are »Baal« and »Drums in the Night«. His greatest commercial success, »The Threepenny Opera«, was created in 1928 in collaboration with Kurt Weill. In 1933 he left Berlin with his family and friends and fled to Denmark via Prague, Vienna and Zurich, then via Russia to California and finally back to Zurich.
He developed his theory of epic (or dialectical) theatre in contrast to the psychological empathy of the Stanislawski theatre. In addition to his dramas and theatre-theoretical texts, Brecht also attained international recognition as a lyricist. His important later works are »Mother Courage and her Children«, »Mr Puntila And His Man Matti« and »The Caucasian Chalk Circle«.
1948 he returned to Berlin where he founded the legendary Berliner Ensemble (BE) and acted as director and author of the BE until his death in 1956.

Schaubühne (Selction)

»Mann ist Mann«, Direction: Thomas Ostermeier (2000)
»Die heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe«, Direction: Tom Kühne (2002)
The good man of Sezuan, Direction: Friederike Heller (2010)
Die heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe, Direction: Peter Kleinert (2013)
The caucasian chalk circle, Direction: Peter Kleinert (2019)