ABSTRACT
Brecht was an extraordinary writer. He was prolific, collaborative, openly partisan and seriously playful. Just a glance at the most recent edition of his writings gives a good sense of the scope of Brecht’s range. Comprising thirty volumes in total, the Berliner und Frankfurter edition includes more than forty theatre plays as well as screenplays, adaptations, poems, a novel, stories, letters, diary and work journal entries. This incredible output testifies to the intense nature of Brecht’s interest in both writing and productivity. Significantly, almost one fifth of this work consists of theoretical commentary on art and politics, in particular the politics of theatre. This chapter will focus on key texts and ideas in this commentary, eloquent testimony to the importance Brecht attributed to critical reflection on both art and society.
