1928
5 January: Mann ist Mann at the Volksbühne, Berlin. 31 August: Threepenny Opera première, Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin.
1929
July: Lindberghflug (Flight over the Ocean) and Badener Lehrstück (The Baden-Baden Cantata) premières, at Baden-Baden. Both produced by Brecht. First ‘Lehrstücke’ (or didactic pieces). September: Happy End première, Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin, produced by Brecht. Berliner Requiem with Weill broadcast during summer.
1930
First three issues of Brecht’s Versuche, or miscellaneous collected writings, including first notes on the plays. 9 March: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) première, Leipzig Opera. 23 June: Der Jasager (He Who Said Yes) première, Berlin. 10 December: Die Massnahme (The Decision) première, Berlin. First collaboration with Hanns Eisler. First outspokenly Communist work.
1931
Release of Threepenny Opera film. 16 January: first contribution to Die Rote Fahne (Berlin). 30 January: radio adaptation of Hamlet broadcast, Berlin. 6 February: Mann ist Mann (revised version) at Staatstheater, Berlin. Produced by Brecht. 21 December: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at Kurfürstendamm-Theater, Berlin. Produced by Brecht and Caspar Neher.
1932
Release of Kuhle Wampe film. 17 January: Die Mutter (The Mother) première, Berlin. 11 April: St Joan of the Stockyards broadcast, Berlin.
1933
All publications and productions in Germany interrupted.
SCANDINAVIA
1933
June: Anna-Anna ou les Sept Péchés Capitaux première at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris. Brecht’s only ballet. His last major work with Kurt Weill, Die Sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins).
1934
First (and only completed) novel: Der Dreigroschenroman (Threepenny Novel). Second book of poems: Lieder Gedichte Chore (Songs Poems Choruses) (with Eisler). Writing of Die Horatier und die Kuriatier (The Horatü and the Curiatü), Brecht’s last ‘Lehrstück’.
1935
June: speech to International Writers’ Congress in Defence of Culture, Paris. 19 November: Die Mutter in English, New York.
1936
July: first number of Das Wort (Moscow) edited by Brecht, Feuchtwanger and Bredel. 4 November: Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe (Round Heads and Pointed Heads) première, Copenhagen. (The notes on this play contain the first known mention of ‘Verfremdung’, or alienation.)
1937
16 October: Senora Carrar’s Rifles première, Paris.
1938
First (and only) two volumes of Malik edition of Collected Plays. May: Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches (Fear and Misery in the Third Reich) première, Paris, produced by Dudow.
1939
March: final number of Das Wort. Third book of poems: Svendborger Gedichte (Svendborg Poems).
1940
12 May: Das Verhör des Lukullus (The Trial of Lucullus) broadcast, Beromünster.
1941
19 April: Mother Courage première, Zurich Schauspielhaus.
USA
1942
Release of film Hangmen also Die.
1943
4 February: The Good Person of Szechwan première, Zurich Schauspielhaus. 9 September: Galileo première, Zurich Schauspielhaus.
1945
June: Private Life of the Master Race (adaptation of Furcht und Elend) in English, San Francisco and New York.
1946
15 October: The Duchess of Malfi is staged on Broadway.
1947
August: Galileo (second version; translated by Brecht and Laughton) in Hollywood.
ZURICH
1948
First: (and only) volume of short stories: Kalendergeschichten (Tales from the Calendar). February: Antigone première, Chur (Switzerland); produced by Brecht and Neher; Helene Weigel’s first professional appearance since 1933. 4 May: student production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle in English, Northfield (Minnesota). 5 June: Herr Puntila und sein Knecht (Mr Puntila and his Man Matti) première, Zurich Schauspielhaus.
BERLIN
1949
11 January: Mother Courage at Deutsches Theater, East Berlin; produced by Brecht and Engel, with Helene Weigel. 12 November: Herr Puntila und sein Knecht at Deutsches Theater, produced by Brecht and Engel; first production of the Berliner Ensemble. Publication of the Versuche resumed. ‘Kleines Organon fur das Theater’ (‘Short Organum for the Theatre’), Brecht’s chief theoretical work, appears in a special number of Sinn und Form (Potsdam).
1950
15 April: Lenz’s Der Hofmeister (The Tutor) in Brecht’s adaptation, at Deutsches Theater; produced by Brecht, with Berliner Ensemble. 8 October: Mother Courage in Munich Kammerspiele, produced by Brecht.
1951
First selected poems: Hundert Gedichte (A Hundred Poems). 10 January: Die Mutter at Deutsches Theater; produced by Brecht, with Berliner Ensemble. 17 March: Das Verhör des Lukullus, opera version by Paul Dessau, given trial performance in East Berlin State Opera. August: Hermburger Bericht (Report from Herrnburg) première at World Youth Festival in East Berlin. 12 October: Die Verurteilung des Lukullus (The Condemnation of Lucullus) put into State Opera’s repertoire after changes to title, score and text.
1952
16 November: Senora Carrar’s Rifles at Deutsches Theater, with Berliner Ensemble.
1953
First two volumes of Stücke, or Complete Dramatic Works. 17 May: Erwin Strittmatter’s Katzgraben at Deutsches Theater, produced by Brecht, with Berliner Ensemble.
1954
March: first performance by Berliner Ensemble in Theater am Schiffbauerdamm as an independent State Theatre. March: The Threepenny Opera (English adaptation by Marc Blitzstein) begins a long run in New York. 15 June: Caucasian Chalk Circle German première at Theater am Schiffbauerdamm; produced by Brecht, with Berliner Ensemble. July: International Theatre Festival, Paris. Berliner Ensemble production of Mother Courage.
1955
Illustrated war verses: Kriegsfibel (War Primer). 12 January: J. R. Becher’s Winterschlacht produced by Brecht and Wekwerth, with Berliner Ensemble. June: Second International Theatre Festival, Paris, Berliner Ensemble production of Caucasian Chalk Circle.
1956
14 August: Brecht dies in East Berlin, of a heart infarct.
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The Visions of Simone Machard and Schweyk in the Second World War were neither published nor produced during Brecht’s lifetime. They were published in the Stücke edition in 1957 and produced in Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Warsaw respectively the same year.
Baal
To my friend George Pfanzelt
Translator: PETER TEGEL
Characters
Baal, poet ‧ Mech, merchant and publisher ‧ Emilie, his wife ‧ Dr Piller, critic ‧ Johannes Schmidt ‧ Pschierer, director of the water rates ‧ a young man ‧ a young woman ‧ Johanna ‧ Ekart ‧ Luise, a waitress ‧ the two sisters ‧ the landlady ‧ Sophie Barger ‧ the tramp ‧ Lupu ‧ Mjurk ‧ the nightclub singer ‧ a pianist ‧ the parson ‧ Bolleboll ‧ Gougou ‧ the old beggar ‧ Maja, the beggarwoman ‧ the young woman ‧ Watzmann ‧ a waitress ‧ two policemen ‧ drivers ‧ peasants ‧ woodcutters
HYMN OF BAAL THE GREAT
Baal grew up within the whiteness of the womb
With the sky already large and pale and calm
Naked, young, endlessly marvellous
As Baal loved it when he came to us.
And that sky remained with him through joy and care
Even when Baal slept, blissful and unaware.
Nights meant violet sky and drunken Baal
Dawns, Baal good, sky apricottish-pale.
So through hospital, cathedral, bar
Baal trots coolly on, and learns to let them go.
When Baal’s tired, boys, Baal will not fall far:
Baal will drag his whole sky down below.
Where the sinner
s herd in shame together
Baal lies naked, soaking up the calm.
Just the sky, but sky to last for ever
Hides his nakedness with its strong arm.
And that lusty girl, the world, who laughs when yielding
To the man who’ll stand the pressure of her thighs
Gives him instants of a sweet ecstatic feeling.
Baal survives it; he just looks and sees.
And when Baal sees corpses all around
Then a double pleasure comes to him.
Lots of space, says Baal; they’re not enough to count.
Lots of space inside this woman’s womb.
Once a woman, Baal says, gives her all
She’ll have nothing more, so let her go!
Other men would represent no risk at all.
Even Baal is scared of babies, though.
Vice, says Baal, is bound to help a bit
And so are the men who practise it.
Vices leave their mark on all they touch.
Stick to two, for one will be too much.
Slackness, softness – that’s what you should shun.
Nothing’s tougher than pursuing fun.
Powerful limbs are needed, and experience too
Swollen bellies may discourage you.
Baal watches the vultures in the star-shot sky
Hovering patiently to see when Baal will die.
Sometimes Baal shams dead. The vultures swoop.
Baal, without a word, will dine on vulture soup.
Under mournful stars in our sad vale of trouble
Munching, Baal can graze broad pastures down to stubble.
When they’re cropped, into the forest deep
Baal trots, singing, to enjoy his sleep.
And when Baal’s dragged down to be the dark womb’s prize
What’s the world to Baal? Baal has been fed.
Sky enough still lurks behind Baal’s eyes
To make just enough sky when he’s dead.
Baal decayed within the darkness of the womb
With the sky once more as large and pale and calm
Naked, young, endlessly marvellous
As Baal loved it when he came to us.
Dining Room
Mech, Emilie Mech, Pschierer, Johannes Schmidt, Dr Piller, Baal and other guests enter through the revolving door.
MECH to Baal: Would you like some wine, Mr Baal? All take seats, Baal in the place of honour. Do you like crab? That’s a dead eel.
PILLER to Mech: I’m very glad that the immortal poems of Mr Baal, which I had the honour of reading to you, have earned your approval. To Baal: You must publish your poetry. Mr Mech pays like a real patron of the arts. You’ll be able to leave your attic.
MECH: I buy cinnamon wood. Whole forests of cinnamon float down the rivers of Brazil for my benefit. But I’ll also publish your poetry.
EMILIE: You live in an attic?
BAAL eating and drinking: 64 Klauckestrasse.
MECH: I’m really too fat for poetry. But you’ve got the same-shaped head as a man in the Malayan Archipelago, who used to have himself driven to work with a whip. If he wasn’t grinding his teeth he couldn’t work.
PSCHIERER: Ladies and gentlemen. I admit it frankly: I was shattered to find a man like him in such modest circumstances. As you know, I discovered our dear poet in my office, a simple clerk. I have no hesitation in calling it a disgrace to our city that personalities of his calibre should be allowed to work for a daily wage. May I congratulate you, Mr Mech! Your salon will be famous as the cradle of this genius’s, yes genius’s, worldwide reputation. Your health, Mr Baal!
Baal wards off the speech with a gesture; he eats.
PILLER: I shall write an essay about you. Have you any manuscripts? I have the backing of the press.
A YOUNG MAN: How, my friend, do you get that accursed naïve effect? It’s positively homeric. I consider Homer one, or rather one of several, highly civilized adapters with a penetrating delight in the naïveté of the original folk sagas.
A YOUNG LADY: You remind me more of Walt Whitman. But you’re more significant. That’s what I think.
ANOTHER MAN: I’d say he had something rather more of Verhaeren.
PILLER: Verlaine! Verlaine! Even in physiognomy. Don’t forget our Lombroso.
BAAL: Some more of the eel, please.
THE YOUNG LADY: But you have the advantage of greater indecency.
JOHANNES: Mr Baal sings his songs to the lorry-drivers. In a café down by the river.
THE YOUNG MAN: Good God, none of those poets are even in the same category. My friend, you’re streets ahead of any living poet.
THE OTHER MAN: At any rate he’s promising.
BAAL: Some more wine please.
THE YOUNG MAN: I consider you a precursor of the great Messiah of European literature whom we can undoubtedly expect within the very near future.
THE YOUNG LADY: Dear poet, ladies, and gentlemen. Permit me to read you a poem from the periodical ‘Revolution’ which will also be of interest to you. She rises and reads:
The poet shuns shining harmonies.
He blows trombones, shrilly whips the drum.
He incites the people with chopped sentences.
The new world
Exterminating the world of pain,
Island of rapturous humanity.
Speeches. Manifestos.
Songs from grandstands.
Let there be preached the new,
The holy state, inoculated into the blood of the people,
Blood of their blood.
Paradise sets in.
– Let us spread a stormy climate!
Learn! Prepare! Practise!
Applause.
THE YOUNG LADY quickly: Permit me! I shall turn to another
poem in the same issue. She reads:
Sun had made him shrivel
And wind had blown him dry.
By every tree rejected
He simply fell away.
Only a single rowan
With berries on every limb,
Red as flaming tongues, would
Receive and shelter him.
So there he hung suspended,
His feet lay on the grass.
The blood-red sunset splashed him
As through his ribs it passed.
It moved across the landscape
And struck all the olive groves.
God in his cloud-white raiment
Was manifest above.
Within the flowering forest
There sang a thousand snakes
While necks of purest silver
With slender murmurs shook.
And they were seized with trembling
All over that leafy domain
Obeying the hands of their Father
So light in their delicate veins.
Applause.
CRIES OF: Brilliant! Extreme but in good taste. Simply heavenly.
THE YOUNG LADY: In my opinion it comes closest to the Baalian conception of the world.
MECH: You should travel! The Abyssinian mountains. That’s something for you.
BAAL: They won’t come to me, though.
PILLER: Why? With your zest for life! Your poems had an enormous effect on me.
BAAL: The lorry-drivers pay if they like them.
MECH drinking: I’ll publish your poems. I’ll let the cinnamon logs float away, or do both.
EMILIE to Mech: You shouldn’t drink so much.
BAAL: I haven’t got any shirts. I could use some white shirts.
MECH: You’re not interested in the publishing deal?
BAAL: But they’d have to be soft.
PILLER ironic: Oh, and what can I do for you?
EMILIE: You write such wonderful poems, Mr Baal. So sensitive.
BAAL to Emilie: Won’t you play something on the harmonium?
Emilie plays.
MECH: I like eating to the harmonium.
EMILIE to Ba
al: Please don’t drink so much, Mr Baal.
BAAL looks at Emilie: Do you have forests of cinnamon floating for you, Mech? Butchered forests?
EMILIE: You can drink as much as you like. I was only asking a favour.
PILLER: Even your drinking shows promise.
BAAL to Emilie: Play higher up! You’ve got lovely arms.
Emilie stops playing and approaches the table.
PILLER: Apparently you don’t care for the music itself.
BAAL: I can’t hear the music. You’re talking too much.
PILLER: You’re a queer fish, Baal. I gather you don’t want to get published.
BAAL: Don’t you trade in animals too, Mech?
MECH: Do you object?
BAAL stroking Emilie’s arm: What’s my poetry to you?
MECH: I wanted to do you a favour. Couldn’t you be peeling some more apples, Emilie?
PILLER: He’s afraid of being sucked dry. – Haven’t you found a use for me yet?
BAAL: Do you always wear wide sleeves, Emilie?
PILLER: But now you really must stop drinking.
PSCHIERER: Perhaps you ought to go easy on the alcohol. Full many a genius —
MECH: Would you like to have a bath? Shall I have a bed made up for you? Have you forgotten anything?
PILLER: Your shirts are floating away, Baal. Your poetry has floated off already.
BAAL drinks: I’m against monopolies. Go to bed, Mech.
MECH has risen: I delight in all the animals on God’s earth, but this is one animal you can’t do business with. Come, Emilie! Shall we go, ladies and gentlemen?
All have risen indignantly.
CRIES: Sir! Astounding! That’s the…!
PSCHIERER: I am shattered, Mr Mech …
Brecht Collected Plays: 1: Baal; Drums in the Night; In the Jungle of Cities; Life of Edward II of England; & 5 One Act Plays: Baal , Drums in the Night , In the Jungle of Ci (World Classics) Page 3