A place for theatre in the TIME 100

[Carrie Loffree]

Hello, Candrama.

Here's an interesting posting from the ASTR.  Thought some of you might be
interested, even though it's not Canadian in content.

- Carrie Loffree, Montreal


>Dear ASTR Folks,
>
>        In the hope that TIME magazine will include at least one
>representative of the live theatre world in their list of the most
>influential people in the 20th century, I am actively campaigning for
>the inclusion of Bertolt Brecht.  While I know that there are many other
>deserving candidates, he's my choice, and I'm hoping people will back it.
>If not, I encourage theatre and performance scholars to send in at least
>one suggestion of their own.  Below is a brief letter which I sent to
>TIME.  Perhaps you don't view these kinds of things (top 100 lists) as
>being important, and that's ok.  Just can't resist a chance to get a few
>million people to read an article about Brecht (or at least someone from
>the theatre!)
>
>        You can contact the "TIME 100" people
>
>                via e-mail: time100 at time.com
>                via the web: time.com
>                via snail mail:         Time 100
>                                        Room 24-48
>                                        Time & Life Building
>                                        Rockefeller Center
>                                        NBew York, NY 10020
>
>Dear "Time 100,"
>
>        It is my sincere hope that the good people of TIME magazine will
>include at least one representative of the live theatre world in their
>collection of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.  While
>there are certainly numerous other possibilities, I can think of no better
>representative for the art than the great German playwright, director and
>theorist: Bertolt Brecht.
>
>        His plays are the most produced in the world after Shakespeare,
>his theories on the "Epic" theatre and alienation are central to 20th
>century dramatic theory, and his work with the Berliner Ensemble achieved
>world renown.  Most important, he opened our eyes to both the political
>possibilities of theatre, and the desirability of staging narrative image
>and text.  Although Brecht's claim to be the only original theorist since
>Aristotle is debateable, he certainly helped to shift our ideas about the
>theatre and poerformance away from a (frequently misinterpreted)
>Aristotelian view. He was also a prime advocate of the acceptnace (however
>misunderstood) of Asian theatre conventions in the West, and the
>cross-cultural performances that have become almost commonplace in the
>field owe a small debt to Brecht.
>
>        Just as the people whose ideas he appropriated and/or modified
>were giants of the age in their respective fields: Karl Marx, Charlie
>Chaplain, Max Reinhardt, Erwin Piscator, et. al., so too were the people
>with whom he associated.  The list of artistic and cultural figures who
>workled with and/or were influenced by the man is impressive: Kurt Weill,
>Georgio Strehler, Tony Kushner, Jean-Luc Goddard, Charles Laughton, Mark
>Blitzstein, Caryl Churchill, Max Frisch, Clifford Odets, Augusto Boal and
>many, many others, including his "inner circle" of Helena Weigel, Casper
>Neher, Lotta Lenja and Erich Engel.
>
>        Bertolt Brecht spent all but two of his years on this earth in the
>twentieth century, and I can think of no better honor as we approach the
>100th anniversary of his birthday (in 1998) than to recognize him as one
>of the 100 most influential people in the 20th century.  I hope he will
>receive your full attention.  Thank you.
>
>James M. Brandon, Ph.D. Fellow
>Bowling Green State University
>Theatre Department