1948-1956 (Berlin), Section 2 Summary and Analysis

Theaterarbeit: an editorial note -The editor comments that Theaterarbeit was the newsletter of his Berliner Ensemble and that the following five writings were first published there. He also refers to how much of what Brecht says in the book's final five writings repeats what has been said before, although there is the addition of a detailed breakdown of the rehearsal process and commentary on casting. "All through," the editor writes, "the emphasis is strongly practical ... it is no longer a matter of elaborating new ideas but of making a body of ideas work..." He also comments on the continually emerging differences between Brecht's theories about acting and theatre and his actual practice. Alienation, he points out, "is not mentioned".

Notes on Erwin Strittmatter's Play 'Katzgraben' - The editor notes that this essay, and those that follow, while...