Measures Taken and Other Lehrstucke

Brecht is one of the most important dramatists of the twentieth century whose work is studied on every Theatre Studies course. These short plays offer students and actors perfect practice pieces which exhibit some of Brecht's pioneering theatrical techniques.

Brecht's 'learning plays', designed as short training pieces for actors, derive from the period of Brecht's most sharply Communist works.The Lehrstucke (or 'learning-plays') lie at the heart of Brechtian theatre. Written during 1929 and 1930, years of far-reaching political and economic upheaveal in Germany and the period of Brecht's most sharply Communist works, these short plays show an abrupt rejection of most of the trappings of conventional theatre. The Lehrstucke are spare and highly formalized pieces intended for performance by amateurs, on the principle that the moral and political lessons contained in them can best be taught by participation in an actual production. There is nothing in the drama of the twentieth century to match the precision of their language and the economy of their theatrical technique.