BERTOLT BRECHT'S "POEMS, 1913–1956"
LECTURE BY WARREN LEMING

The German poet and playwright of the century, Brecht left behind over forty plays, and a tremendous volume of verse. His theoretical writings run to over twenty volumes (in the Metheun edition) and he has impacted on the theater in a way that no one else has. A poet and writer whose politics came first, Brecht puts to shame any idea that an artist can have no political agenda. Brecht remains, despite all his successes, first and foremost a great poet. He remains perhaps the poet of the Age.

Chicago writer/director Warren Leming has written widely on Bertolt Brecht. Leming's introduction to the German writer began when he staged a successful production of Brecht's play, "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" (using Leming's own translation) at Cross Currents Cabaret in 1983. He went on to create and direct a series of cabaret productions at Cross Currents. Following the Mahagonny production, Leming staged a Brecht on Film weekend at Chicago Film Makers. The three day event drew hundreds of people, and was the first Brecht on Film event in the Midwest. In the early months of 1985 Leming went to what was then the German Democratic Republic to research at the Bertolt Brecht Archive in East Berlin. Out of his year and half in Berlin came a documentary, "The Brecht Method," produced for public television and shot in East Berlin. Leming's 16 page booklet for Brecht on Film has been used by universities nationwide as a supplementary guide to film courses about Brecht. He is a member of the International Brecht Society, and was the contributing editor on film to Gestus, an American journal devoted to Brecht study. For more on Leming and Brecht see www.coldchicagocompany.org.

PROGRAM LOCATION: CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY
LINCOLN PARK BRANCH, 1150 W FULLERTON AVE, CHICAGO

OCTOBER 24, THURSDAY, 7:00 PM

Sponsored by Open University of the Left and Democratic Socialists of America Chicago Chapter

Free event. For more information, call Open University of the Left at 773-244-1480