West Coast Centennial Festival

The 100th birthday of poet and dramatist Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), one of the greatest German writers of the modern era, will be celebrated with an ambitious six-day West Coast Brecht Centennial Festival in Los Angeles and environs, where Brecht spent most of his exile in America from 1941-47. During this period, Brecht revised and wrote some of his most important works, and collaborated with Charles Laughton, Lion Feuchtwanger, Peter Lorre, Eric Bentley, and many others.
Conceived and created by its Artistic Director, David Catanzarite, the Festival will include numerous play readings with professional actors and directors from Los Angeles's vast theatre community, and will be highlighted by musical offerings from the Brecht repertoire. Performers include Eric Braeden (The Young and The Restless, The Titanic), cabaret artist Weba Garretson, and performance art group Shrimps. Brecht's best known plays will be read, including Baal, Mother Courage, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and The Good Person of Setzuan (translated by Tony Kushner). All two dozen events are free to the public, and take place in such venues as: Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades (former home of Lion Feuchtwanger); independent bookstores (Skylight in Los Angeles; Midnight Special in Santa Monica; Beyond Baroque in Venice); the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (jazz concert); the Santa Monica Public Library; the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Library (Mark Taper Auditorium); and the Claremont Colleges.
Brecht continues to be the fourth most performed playwright in the United States. He was the chief advocate of the theories of "epic theatre," which have profoundly influenced the evolution of theatre in this century. Brecht is a primary inspiration for numerous contemporary playwrights and practitioners, including Luis Valdez, Carryl Churchill, Elizabeth Wong, Edward Bond, and Tony Kushner.
For information on the West Coast Brecht Centennial Festival, February 5-10, 1998, call (909) 607-4385, or contact the individual venues.

SPONSORS of the West Coast Brecht Centennial Festival include:
The Goethe-Institut Los Angeles • The Los Angeles Public Library • The Villa Aurora Foundation for European-American Relations • The Joint German Faculties of the Claremont Colleges • The Pomona College Department of Theatre Arts • Shrimps • Midnight Special Bookstore & Cultural Center • Beyond Baroque • Skylight Books • The Los Angeles County Museum of Art • The Santa Monica Public Library • The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation • The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers

All festival events are free to the public
(Note: reservations are required to some events)

Thursday, February 5, 7 pm:
Reading, Edward II by Bertolt Brecht (in collaboration with Lion Feuchtwanger). Features Aled Davies in title role; director Michael M. Michetti (1997 Ovation Award winner, Best Director of a Play). At: Villa Aurora, 520 Paseo Miramar, Pacific Palisades. Reservations required; call (310) 454-4231.

Friday, February 6, 5:30-8:30 pm:
Friday Night Jazz Series with Dr. Art Davis and the Horace Tapscott Duo. Program includes selected compositions by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. At: the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 857-6000.

Saturday, February 7, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm:

• Installation by Shrimps performance art group.
• Reading: The Private Life of the Master Race (scenes will be read at intervals throughout the day). Director: Judith Royer. At: Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles (Silver Lake), 213-660-1175.

Saturday, February 7, 1:00-3:00 pm
Go for Brecht, an audience participation event with exercises from Brecht. At: Santa Monica Public Library Auditorium, 1343 Sixth St., Santa Monica, (310) 458-8600.

Saturday, February 7, 4:00-8:00 pm:

• 4:00 pm - Reading of Baal, in a new translation by Peter Mellenkamp.
• 6:00 pm - Performances of music; readings of short stories.
• 7:30 pm - Brecht songs by pianist Paul Humphries.
• 8:00 pm - Poetry reading

Sunday, February 8, 12 noon - 8:00 p.m.
Brechtathon (readings of five plays):

• 12:00 noon - Caucasian Chalk Circle, in an adaptation by Thulani Davis; directed by Mary Thomas
• 2:00 pm - Mr. Puntila and his Man Matti, translated by John Willett, directed and performed by Frank Dwyer
• 4:00 pm Mother Courage, transl. by Ralph Manheim, with Angela Paton ("Groundhog Day," "E.R."); director Robert W. Goldsby
• 6:00 pm - Antigone, translated by Judith Malina after Brecht's adaptation.
• 8:00 pm - The Good Person of Setzuan, transl. by Tony Kushner.

Monday, February 9, 8:00 am - 11:00 pm
Brecht Centennial Fringe Festival at the Claremont Colleges (see addendum for schedule) Information: (909) 607-2693)

Tuesday, February 10, 7:00-9:30 pm
Brecht Centennial Birthday Celebration at the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium

• Brecht and Weill songs by avant-garde cabaret star Weba Garretson and The Eastside Sinfonietta (Danny Frankel, percussion; Weba Garretson, voice; Ralph Gorodetsky, bass)
• Reading of Brecht on Brecht, a theatrical review of Brecht's writings, poetry, and songs, including the famous short play The Jewish Wife. Features actor Eric Braeden (star of the hit CBS-TV series, "The Young and the Restless"; John Jacob Astor in feature film "The Titanic"), Diane Rodriguez (Co-Director, Latino Theatre initiative at the Mark Taper Forum). Director: David Catanzarite.

Addendum:
Claremont Colleges Brecht Fringe Festival

Monday, February 9, 8:00 am - 11:00 pm
At: The Claremont Colleges (Information phone number (909) 607-2693)

• 8:00-9:30 am: Pomona College (location TBA) *
  Continental Brechtfast: Coffee, Donuts and "A-effect"
• 11:00 am to 5:00 pm: Seaver Theatre Complex Studio
  Brecht Visuals: An exhibit of Brecht-inspired sketches, models, sculptures and other visual art by professionals and student designers from the Pomona College Department of Theatre Arts.
• 10:00 am Oldenborg International House, Pomona College
  Screening of Mutter Courage, motion picture by the Berliner Ensemble (in German, no subtitles).
• 12:00 to 1:30 pm: Seaver Theatre Courtyard, Pomona College.
  Brecht in the Courtyard: Exercises from Brecht by Advanced Acting and Dance students from the Pomona College Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.
• 1:30 pm: Oldenborg International Center, Pomona College.
  Screening of Galileo, American Film Institute motion picture (in English) starring Topol.
• 4:00 to 5:30 pm: Scripps College
  Distinguished Guest Speaker and Scripps College Afternoon Tea.
• 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Seaver Theatre Complex, Pomona College
  Berlin '32 - A Cabaret of Early Brecht Songs and Sketches.
• 9:30 to 11:00 pm. Grove House, Pitzer College
  Poetry Reading by German Studies Students of the Claremont Colleges.

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