The Essential Brecht by John Fuegi (review)

Book Reviews • THE ESSENTIAL BRECHT, by John Fuegi. University of Southern California Studies in Comparative Literature, Vol. IV. Los Angeles: Hennessy & Ingalls, Inc., 1972. It is always hazardous to proclaim that one is writing about the essential in a given author - nor does John Fuegi convince us that he has said the last word about Brecht. However, his viewpoint is nonetheless interesting and fruitful. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the lack of correspondence between Brecht's theories of theatre and his actual practice (in which the productions are viewed as a unification of text and stage realization), and with this aim in mind Fuegi writes a short chapter on the theories, followed by an investigation of eight Brecht plays from Edward II to CaWeo. "We shall see with play after play of Brecht's, in his own productions, that audience and critical response was not in fact cool despite the most heroic attempt of the post-war Berliner Ensemble to act (in Eric Bentley's sensitive formulation) as a 'fire brigade'" (p. 45). Fuegi proceeds very methodically, writes a readable prose, and includes a large number of the familiar pictures (as well as a few less familiar ones). On the whole, the book is more of an introduction to its subject than an example of scholarly research. Professor Fuegi himself feels that his book is quite different from most of what has previously been written about Brecht (p. 4), but its main idea is nonetheless in no sense new. Fuegi expresses himself in more absolute terms than most about the problems: he wants, for example, to eliminate completely the term "epic" regarding Brecht's theatre, he describes a play like Die Mutter as traditional and "highly conservative" (p. 60), and he does not shrink from using the term "neoclassical" about certain features of Brecht's physiognomy (p. 140). However, regarding the existence of a discrepancy between Brechtian theory and practice, he is in agreement with a whole series of his predecessors. Nonetheless, there is value in the support 121 122 BOOK REVIEWS which Fuegi brings to this thesis and in his insistence that Brecht as an artist has his own very individual physiognomy, which is largely unaffected by ideological and aesthetic considerations: "The essential Brecht has remained essentially the same" (p. 178). The characterization of this essential Brecht is not presented in a few short, abstract sentences, but emerges from the individual analyses of the works. Clearly, none of these interpretations exhausts its subject - they are too directed by the author's aim for that - but none of them fails to contribute new insights. This book can be recommended as an excellent introduction to the subject, but even the Brecht specialist can read it with great profit. HELGE HULTBERG University of Copenhagen LISTEN TO THE WIND by James Reaney. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1972. 119 p. $2.50 & $8.00. COLOURS IN THE DARK, by James Reaney. Vancouver: Talonbooks, with Macmillan of Canada, 1971. 94 p. $2.50. THE ECSTASY OF RITA JOE, by George Ryga. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1972. 90 p. $2.50. CAPTNES OF THE FACE].:..ESS DRUMMER, by George Ryga. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1972. 117 p. $2.50. RINSE CYCLE, by Jackie Crossland & Rudy LaValle. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1972. 79 p. $4.00. CRABDANCE, by Beverly Simons. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1973. 119 p. $2.50. ASHES FOR EASTER AND OTHER MONODRAMAS, by David Watmough. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1972. 183 pp. $4.00. The first ambition of a Canadian playwright will not be to see his work in print. A single performance by a local amateur group would be more immediately welcome. However, since lasting reputation depends on scripts being available not just for an adventurous director, but among the discerning readers of the general public as well, appearance in book form will be an ultimate hope. How many readers the discerning clerisy comprises is anyone's guess, but reading plays may not be at present their chief interest. This makes Talonbooks of Vancouver's foray into Canadian drama all the more farsighted. Each Talonplay is equipped to catch the eye with an arresting and individual design and, where applicable, with an introduction and performance history. Reaney's Listen to the Wind can p~rticularly...