ABSTRACT
Thefirstproductioninwhichthetextandstagingwerebasedsolely onpoliticaldocumentswasInSpiteofEverything(GrossesSchauspielhaus,July12,1925).
TheplaygrewoutofamammothhistoricalrevueIwastoputon inthespringofthatyearfortheWorkers'CulturalUnionata midsummerfestivalintheGosenHills[onthesouthernoutskirtsof Berlin].Thercvue-IcommissionedGasbarratoputthetext together-wastoshowbrieflytherevolutionaryhighlightsofthe historyofmankindfromtheSpartacusrebelliontotheRussian Revolution,andtobeasummaryininstructivescenesofthewhole developmentofhistoricalmaterialism.Weplannedonagrand scale.Thereweretobe2000participants;twentygiganticspotlights weretolightupthenaturalarena,massivesymbolicpropswould illustratetheseparatepassages.(Asixty-five-footbattleshipwould representBritishImperialism.)IhadmovednearbytoSchmockwitz tobeabletokeepaconstanteyeonthework.Thescenariohad beenworkedoutandthegeneraloutlineofthemusic,againby EdmundMeisel,wasready,whentheCulturalUnion,prompted byErnstNiekisch(whois,afterseveralchangesofloyalty,currently apioneerofnational"socialism"),suddenlyhadpoliticalreservations.Whilenegotiationswerestillinprogress,theGermanCommunistPartyaskedustoputonaperformanceintheGrosses SchauspielhausfortheirBerlinConference.Theformandcontent ofthethinghadnotbeendetermined,butweretobeworkedoutat
a meeting at the Central Office the next day. The idea of having this performance stemmed from Ernst Torgler, a Communist member of the Reichstag, and an old friend of ours from the days of the Red Revue.
