''Coriolanus'' is an unfinished German adaptation by the Modernism, modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht of Coriolanus, the English 17th-century tragedy by William Shakespeare.
[Willett (1959, 63).] Brecht wrote it sometime between 1951 and 1953.
This adaptation reveals the influence of Mao Zedong on Brecht's social thought especially the idea of primary and secondary contradictions which Mao discussed in his treatise ''On Contradiction''. Brecht alluded to this text and discusses his development on the original and his ideas for its staging in an essay entitled "Study of the First Scene of Shakespeare's ''Coriolanus''", which is written in the form of a dialogue with his Collaboration, collaborators at the Berliner Ensemble theatre company. The play was first staged by Heinrich Koch at the Frankfurt Schauspielhaus theatre, where it opened on 22 September 1962.
It was later staged by the Berliner Ensemble in September 1964.
Ruth Berghaus became famous for her staging of the battle scenes in this production. The play was published in an English translation by Ralph Manheim in volume nine of Brecht's ''Collected Plays''.
[Manheim and Willett (1972, 57-146).]
References
Works cited
* Brecht, Bertolt. 1964. ''Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic''. Ed. and trans. John Willett. British edition. London: Methuen. . USA edition. New York: Hill and Wang. .
* Ralph Manheim, Manheim, Ralph and John Willett, eds. 1972. ''Collected Plays: Nine.'' By Bertolt Brecht. Bertolt Brecht: Plays, Poetry, Prose Ser. New York: Vintage. .
* Willett, John. 1959. ''The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht: A Study from Eight Aspects.'' London: Methuen. .
Compositions by Paul Dessau
Plays by Bertolt Brecht
Works based on Coriolanus
Plays and musicals based on works by William Shakespeare
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