[from] A Short OrganumThe theatre as we know it shows the structure of society (represented on the stage) as being incapable of being influenced by society (in the auditorium). Oedipus, who offended against certain principles underlying the society of his time, is executed; the gods see to that; they are beyond criticism. Shakespeare's great solitary figures, bearing on their breast the star of their fate, carry through with irresistible force their futile and deadly outbursts; they prepare their own downfall; life, not death, becomes obscene as they collapse; the catastrophe is beyond criticism. Human sacrifices all round! Barbaric delights! We know that the barbarians have their art. Let us create another. --- Bertolt Brecht, "A Short Organum for the Theatre," Brecht on Theatre, ed. trans. John Willett (New York: Hill and Wang, 1964), 189. Shakepeare Our Contemporary, trans. Boreslaw Taborski (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1966), 10-11. |