Bertolt Brecht - Die Ausnahme und die Regel

Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), one of the great playwrights of the 20th century, developed the avant-garde concept of the "Lehrstück" (learning play) for amateurs around 1930, in collaboration with prominent artists such as Kurt Weill, Paul Hindemith, and Hanns Eisler. This concept aimed to engage participants actively and physically with the issues of their time through their own performance. However, since the "Massnahme," Lehrstücke have been politically frowned upon and discredited as poor literature, with the hoped-for self-reflections of the amateur actors being considered rather undesirable. "The Exception and the Rule" is, as far as can be seen, the most frequently performed Lehrstück worldwide. Until now, only the last version, "Piece for Schools," known as a compromise version without choruses, was recognized. As one of the few text-critical editions of Brecht, the present volume makes the development of the play fully transparent: from "Schaustück" (show piece) to "Lehrstück" and to "Schulstück" (school piece). The actual "Lehrstück" version, featuring a "left" and a "right" chorus, is presented here for the first time.