Now available in Bloomsbury Revelations series, Brecht on Performance: Messingkauf and Modelbooks presents a selection of Brecht's principal writings about the craft of acting and realising texts for the stage. It crystallises and makes concrete many of the more theoretical aspects of his other writing and illuminates the practice of this hugely influential director and dramatist.The volume is in two parts. The first features an entirely new commentated edition of Brecht's dialogues and essays about the practice of theatre, known as the Messingkauf, or Buying Brass, including the 'Practice Pieces' for actors (rehearsal scenes for classics by Shakespeare and Schiller). The second contains rehearsal and production records from Brecht's work on productions of Life of Galileo, Antigone, Mother Courage and others.Edited by an international team of Brecht scholars and including an essay by director and teacher Di Trevis examining the practical application of these texts for theatres and actors today, Brecht on Performance is a wonderfully rich resource. The text is illustrated with over 30 photographs from the Modelbooks.

General Introduction and AcknowledgementsPart One - The Messingkauf, or Buying BrassIntroduction to Buying BrassPreambleFirst Night(i) Setting the Scene(ii) Naturalism, Realism, Empathy(iii) Tragedy; Learning, Science, MarxismSecond Night(i) Intoxication, Empathy, V-effect(ii) Acting, Performance(iii) Science, Social Class, Learning(iv) Elizabethan Theatre, Shakespeare(v) The Augsburger, PiscatorThird Night(i) The Fourth Wall, Emotion; V-effect, Acting(ii) The Augsburger, Piscator, Weigel(iii) Social Science and Art(iv) 'Extreme Situations'Fourth Night(i) The Nature of Art(ii) Emotion, Critique, Representation (iii) The Augsburger (iv) Shakespeare(v) FinaleMiscellaneous Texts(i) Illusionism, Realism, Naturalism; Social Function of Theatre; Empathy(ii) Acting(iii) Thaëter, Piscator, NeherPlans and Appendices(i) Plans(ii) AppendicesPractice Pieces for Actors(i) Parallel ScenesThe Murder in the Porter's Lodge(Parallel Scene to Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2)The Battle of the Fishwives(Parallel to Schiller's Maria Stuart, Act 3)(ii) Intercalary ScenesFerry Scene(To be played between Scenes 3 and 4, Act 4 of Shakespeare's Hamlet)The Servants(To be played between Scenes 1 and 2, Act 2 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet)(iii) Circular PoemsPart Two - ModelbooksIntroduction to the ModelbooksOn Life of Galileo (1947/48) from Constructing a Role: Laughton's GalileoForewordA Sequence from Scene One: Rotation of the Earth and Rotation of the BrainBackground to the Performance On The Antigone of Sophocles (1947/48) from Antigone Model 1948ForewordRuth Berlau's Prefatory NotePrelude and Bridge to Scene OneNeher's Second Design for the Antigone StageOn Mother Courage and Her Children (1949/50/51) from Courage Model 1949Opening RemarksNotes and Scene-Photos for the Prologue, Scenes One and TwoDetails from Scene ThreeVariations in Berlin and MunichConcluding Texts from the Model: Scene Twelve From Theatre Work (1952)Some Remarks on My DisciplineBertolt Brecht's Stage DirectionPhases of a Stage DirectionFive Notes on ActingThe Berliner Ensemble ModelsTheatre PhotographyDoes Use of the Model Restrict Artistic FreedomHow Erich Engel Uses the ModelHow the Director Brecht Uses His Own ModelFrom the Correspondence of the Berliner Ensemble about the ModelCreative Evaluation of ModelsFrom Katzgraben Notes 1953Epic TheatreRehearsal MethodsSceneryCrises and ConflictsPolitics in the TheatreIII,2 Constructing a HeroIs Katzgraben a Proselytizing Play?The Verse FormVerfremdungII, 3 [Revelation and Justification]EmpathyThe New Farmer, the Medium Farmer, the Big FarmerWhat Are Our Actors Actually Doing?The Positive HeroSecond Dress RehearsalCriticism of Elli and Criticism of Elli 2New Content - New FormDi Trevis: "Acting is Not Theoretical"Select BibliographyIndex of Names and Key Terms