'Brechtian' ... a dirty word?

An article which came to me from Richard Byrne, friend of d&pdc & Courage:

When did 'Brechtian' become such a dirty word? The old Marxist ironist is due for re-appraisal

Michael Billington, The Guardian, 10-20-09

When I applied the word "Brechtian" to Annie Get Your Gun at the Young Vic yesterday, I knew I was running a calculated risk. You don't expect a popular musical to be given such a non-selling label. What I meant to imply was that Richard Jones's superb production invited us to see the show, critically, as a piece of 1940s romantic myth-making about the American West. Unfortunately, however, "Brechtian" these days has come to mean "slow, ponderous, didactic."

Intriguingly, Deborah Warner's current Mother Courage at the National is the very opposite of what we normally mean by "Brechtian": it's light, nimble-footed with a piratical performance from Fiona Shaw and a Duke Special score in which Weimar meets soft rock. But Brecht himself is partly to blame for the way he is often done: he left behind a mountain of "model-books" about his productions which, slavishly followed, lead to leaden revivals. Throw away the rule-books and the plays live again.

And, although Brecht himself once said his work's future depended on communism's survival, I suspect he's due for re-appraisal. With capitalism going through one of its cyclical crises, his plays have acquired renewed topicality.

"What's breaking into a bank compared with founding a bank?" asks Macheath in The Threepenny Opera. It's questions like that which give the old Marxist ironist his vigour and productions such as those by Jones and Warner which take the curse off the word "Brechtian". 

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2009/oct/20/pass-notes-bertolt-brecht

Making music ....in times of war

From Rachel...

Held our first workshop to explore tools/approaches for rehearsal/performance on Monday, November 23. Topic: music... a little introduction on Shape Note singing from Wyckham and then some found-object percussion noodling with Milo.

SHAPE NOTE
Everyone was agreed that the sound/tone of Shape Note is fantastic and Milo and I are totally drawn toward this sound for one of our two final songs to create for the production. (Now if only I get him lyric ideas...)

FOUND-OBJECT PERCUSSION
The found-object percussion idea is one I had long ago/far away and we didn't work it into the workshop rehearsal/performance in May 09. I had been interested in it for doing a cover of Tom Waits' song "Gods Away on Business." Milo has (rightfully) being encouraging me away from using covers in the final show -- particularly as part of the narrative (ie scenes) -- but he too was curious about the sounds of people banging on tin cans, spoons, washboards etc. So we played. He created a series of improvisational composition exercises that then inspired me to say -- could this help to "tell the story" of the war at some point... to evoke it, bring it on stage aurally. And so we played...and saw the potential.

MUSIC AND WAR
Jessica L later emailed me and Milo the following....
I was thinking of the kinds of things that might be used for music at the front. I let my fingers do some walking. I didn't find what I was looking for, (search -if I remember aright; soldiers musical instruments at the front) but I did find this....

The battle of the bands civil war style
During the winter of 1862-1863, the Union and Confederate armies were camped near each other at Fredericksburg, Virginia, separated only by the expanse of the Rappahannock River. One cold afternoon, a band in the Union camp struck up some patriotic tunes to cheer the men. They were answered from across the river by a Confederate band. The Union band played another tune followed by the Confederates who also did their best to play the same song. Back and forth the musical duel went lasting well into the evening hours. Soldiers in both armies listened to the musical battle and would cheer for their own bands. The duel finally ended when both bands struck up the tune, "Home, Sweet Home". It was then that the men of both sides who were so far from their homes, cheered as one.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/gettkidz/music.htm

It's what God wants from you

Courage Returns!