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A READING OF THE FIREBUGS A FACT WHICH SURPRISES MANY READERS of Max Frisch's Biedermann and the Firebugs is that it does, indeed, play well in the theater. Somewhat fragmented and disjointed in the reading, partaking of many of Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt techniques without always sharing his mastery of the dramatic, Frisch's script seems at first glance to be trying to say both too much and too little-to make interesting reading but doubtful theater. The strange problem of the Epilog, added by Frisch a year after the play's initial performance, further complicates our reaction to the play and suggests the playwright 's uncertainty as to how the play should end. A careful reading of The Firebugs~ however, together with an analysis of its effectiveness in the theater, will lead one to two observations about the play: (1) audiences and readers can and do enjoy it simply as good theater; (2) audiences and readers can and do respond appropriately (i.e., as the playwright might have wished) to the play's thematic content, although many audience members will profess at the same time not to have understood it. Perhaps the factor which most easily escapes the first-time reader of The Firebugs (we shall use its shortened, American title for convenience) is its heavy reliance upon the technical aspects of production . The simultaneous setting must be constantly before our eyes; even while apparently innocuous scenes are transpiring in the living room or in the street outside, we must see constantly the gasoline barrels in the attic and Sepp and 'Villi moving inexorably toward the moment of crisis when the house will explode in flames. But this setting must be more than simply a couple of levels: unlike many of Brecht's plays, which could quite conceivably be done on virtually a bare stage, The Firebugs depends to a considerable extent upon the design and decor of the setting to convey the financial ease and security which Biedermann enjoys, the garish, nouveau riche taste which reflects his vacuous personality, and the general reliance upon material things rather than ultimate values which is so vital a part of Biedermann's environment and, by extension, of our entire social structure. Relatively little is said about this in the lines themselves; the physical stage environment must express it. But when Sepp says, "People don't believe in God any more-they believe in the Fire Department,"l he is doing more than merely confusing Biedermann 1 Max Frisch, Bierdermann and the Firebugs, trans. Mordecai Gorelik, in Masters of Modern Drama, ed. Haskell M. Block and Robert G. Shedd (New York. 1962). p.l164. 184 1970 A READING OF The Firebugs 185 with double-talk. The sub-textual meaning becomes clear only in a production context. The technical aspects of production are also vital in holding together the apparently disjointed eight scenes and an epilog that make up the play. In one recent production, extensive use was made of Edgar Varese's Ionisation as overture, as musical bridge between scenes, and as reinforcement for certain key moments in the plotespecially the climax. This ultra-modern music, atonal, non-melodic, composed largely of sirens, bells, drums, and other less likely percussion devices, went a long way toward setting the right mood of con~ fused amusement as the play opened, and reinforced magnificently the genuine confusion and terror toward which the play must build. Even audience members who expressed irritation toward modem, atonal music in general and against Varese's work in particular had to admit that interest was captured and mood was considerably heightened by using this particular music in this play. It was clear that the fundamental "rightness" of the music selection in this case was. a major contributing factor to the favorable audience response which the production enjoyed. Lighting is another strong contributing factor in holding the various scenes together. Experienced theater technicians know that there is nothing very mysterious about carefully controlled lighting which flows easily from one acting area to another, focusing attention now upon Biedermann, now upon the chorus, now upon the arsonists in the attic, but less experienced readers sometimes have difficulty in imagining the effectiveness of...

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