The impact of the rise of Hitler on Theatre

By Lizzy Wheeler, Kyra Millar, Charlie Hall and Laura Hodge

Theatre Pre 1920s • Stanislavski techniques were very popular as an insight

to realism. • There were also many people like Antonin Artaud who

became involved in the development of surrealism in theatre. plays where based on expressionism and physical theatre creating illusions and emotionally enhance the audiences senses.

• Many people also enjoyed Opera, Dance, Cabaret and Musicals.

Political situation post WW1

• Germans felt very betrayed by the treaty of Versailles, it took away land, money and military power.

• Great depression, people very vulnerable, easily influenced as a result of WW1 and the collapse of the economy.

• Nazi party took advantage of the situation and offered people a way out. They promised prosperity for the German people.

• Hitler was a good speaker this helped gain support along with propaganda.

• Hitler comes to power in 1933.• Increasing arrests began, dangerous social climate as Nazi party

became more extreme. • Hitler systematically got rid of people who he saw as a threat, people

who didn’t support him and people who caused him political dissent.• Censorship increases affecting all aspects of life. It became a very

dangerous time for anyone who apposed him.

Propaganda

• The Red War. Mother or Comrade? Man or Machine? God or the Devil? Blood or God? Race or Bastard? Popular music or jazz? National Socialism or Bolshevism?

Pre 1930. As evident in this poster one can see a holy figure resting his hand on the shoulder of a Nazi member, showing his allegiances fighting off the evil snakes with Jewish iconography printed on its sides.

Artists around the time• The political situation stired a lot of peoples views, and

pushed art into a more political light.• Although Bertolt Brecht has probably become the most

renowned for his work surrounding this specific period there was in fact a large group of artists, directors, designers, actors, composers and philosophers that all shared similar views. Most of them worked with each other, creating many new theatre productions, and new ideas of staging that all helped creating the genre of ‘Epic Theatre’ that has now been historically related to this period.

Wolfgang Langhoff• An actor, director, and also an activist against the right wing. • Born in 1901 Germany, joined the navy whilst he was still very young, and fought in

WorldWar 1• On his return to civilian life he became more interested in Theatre and started to make a

name for himself as a well known actor.• Langhoff became increasingly involved with the communist party, bringing many of his

views into theatre, and even founded a radical theatre group that performed at rallies and political meetings.

• He was eventually arrested in February 1933 and sent to a concentration camp called Borgemoor where spent 13 months inside the camp being ruthlessly tortured. Langhoff began to understand the social situation within the camp, making jokes and laughing with fellow prisoners. He soon began to build connections between the other prisoners and began organising regular singing and performing events to help keep up peoples moral.

• ‘If the performance is good, everyone will be proud, and will wonder if we can’t also accomplish other important things in the camp working together’ - Wolfgang Langhoff

• His shows inside became a great success.• Langhoff was released and fled to Switzerland, where as an early inmate to one of the

concentration camps took it upon himself to try and tell the world what was really going on in there, most of which had no idea what was going on under the Nazi control.

• He released a book of his memoirs which became a bestseller, selling out within tree days. He also released a song which he had co written in the camp called Moorsoldetenlied - ‘Song of the Peat Bog Soldiers’ which became a well known anthem.

The Song of the Peat Bog Soldiers

‘…Homeward, homewards, each of us longsTo our parents, wives and children.A sigh opens up many of our chests,Because we are caught here.

We are the peat bog soldiersAnd travel spade in handInto the moor!

The gauds walk back and forthNo one, no one can get through,Escape will only cost your life,The fort is fenced four times around

We are the peat bog soldiers…’

http://holocaustmusic.ort.org

Teo Otto• Set designer.• February 1904 - June 1968, became one of the most famous

German designers of the 20th centaury.• Worked on more than 800 productions throughout the course of his

life.• He worked on German speaking plays internationally, including

Brecht’s work.• Soon became a political opponent of the Nazis and was forced to

move to Switzerland, where he remained for the rest of his life.• In Remscheid, the city where he was born there is now a theatre

named after him, called ‘Teo Otto Theatre’. It is also a gallery, and shows many plays in honour of Teo Otto, representing his style of political Theatre.

www.teo-otto-theatre.de

Walter Benjamin • Philosopher, Born in July 1892, Berlin.• When Nazi cane to power he fled to Paris, being a left wing

supporter it was too dangerous for him where he wrote for the Institute for Social Research.

• In 1939 the Nazi’s drew closer and closer to Paris, and Benjamin decided to flee once again and head to Meaux, where the Nazi’s where stationed, probably the most dangerous place to be in France at that time.

• He was forced to continue running, heading for a well known passage between France and Spain, with arranged plans to catch a boat to the U.S. However due to an illness Benjamin found it very difficult, he also realised that he would need a visa to leave the country, and he took his own life at the age of 48.

• During Benjamin’s life he wrote an essay called ‘The work of art in a mechanical age’ which became one of his most influential essays. It talks about the shift of traditional art to political art and puts it down to technology. By the creation of film and photography it seemed to highly influence the art world at this time. The use of media becomes more and more accessible, and therefore evolving more people and making them aware of the political situation around them. This is where proper gander comes in, a method used to change the viewers point of view through the use of media.

• ‘…Benjamin notes the various attempts by political parties, namely Fascists whom Benjamin feared and despised, to aestheticize politics, or as he puts it: All efforts to render politics aesthetic leads to only one thing: war.’’ www.egs.edu/resorses/benjamin.html

Erwin Piscator • Theatre Practitioner• December 17th 1893 - March 30th 1966• German• Fought in the front line during World War 1• Believed theatre as ‘a conscious and theorised response to needs of

particular historical moment’• Joined the German Communist Party in 1918 and became involved

with the Dada movement.• Visited France in 1936 while on visit to Paris, received a telegram

warning him not to return to Germany as there was to be ‘imprisonment and execution for artists’.

• Went to New York during the war to teach at the New School of Social Research.

• Returned to Germany after the war where he worked on ‘decumbency plays’

• Piscator’s political commitment encouraged him to come up with certain ways of performing his plays. He wanted to highlight the truth within the story and force the spectators to act on it, making them ‘critically aware’

• This lead to development of Epic Theatre• ‘…with Bertolt Brecht, was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a

genre that emphasizes the socio-political context rather than the emotional contexts or aesthetics of the play’

Epic Theatre

• Acting - The actors are no longer allowed to ‘lose them selves’ or abandon all conscious will. In rehearsals when the actors where reading the script for the first time, Brecht would make them remember their first reactions to it and use them in performance, as though they become a member of the audience reacting off the story and not getting involved with it. Right and wrong courses of action were shown, a live argument or debate of the political message that was being told.They were made to change costumes and characters on the stage in front of the audience.

‘Epic Theatre Erwin Piscator's term, theorized by Brecht; epic theater uses episodic dramatic action, non-representational staging to demonstrate the political and social factors of characters.’ http://afronord.tripod.com/thr/dict.htmlThe purpose of Epic Theatre was to promote a political message within a play. The idea was to separate the audience from the story and any emotional attachment with the characters so they were focused on the message. The audience could be critically aware and free to decide what they felt about the situation within the play.Verfrumdungseffekt in English translation it means Alienation. This was a term given to the method that help distance the audience from the play. There were many ways that were created to help this, by constantly reminding the audience that they were watching a play and not to get caught up in it.

• One of the biggest reasons for creating this theatre was to be aimed at the working class, it wanted to appeal to the masses, the voters, and raise the classes consciousness of what was really going on around them, and to stop anything like this happening again.

• Its hard to say if epic theatre is truly successful in its aims. Many plays using these methods have ridiculed high political characters e.g. Arturo Ui, by Bertolt Brecht. A play using all the famous right wing supporters of Hitler and turning them into stereotypical brainless gangsters. This evokes laughter and judgement from the audience, and therefore showing these plays are shaping and influencing their thoughts.

• Saying that however these political leaders have put them selves on high pedestals by means of proper gander and clever manipulation that people like Brecht and Piscator are bringing them down to human levels, taking away their power, and making them appear less scary.

• Brecht on Theatre by John Willet• Types of Drama by Sylvan Barnet, Morton Berman, William Burto, and Ren Draya

Staging - ‘The stage began to be instructive’ Wanted to introduce completely new architecture, making the stage ‘a play-machine’ with all the working mechanics on show so the audience could see what was going on ‘behind the scenes.’ Air flown placards were used to show statistical material to bring the political message through to the audience. Breaking from monologs and talking straight to the audience. Breaking the speech with song, some completely contasting the mood within the scene and using lyrics that had no relevence, or lyrics that highlighted the political message.

Other Artists around the timeDirectors• Alfred Braun• Harry Buckwitz• Emit Fantisek Burian• Jacob Geis• Berthold and Saika Viertel• Staian Dudew

Actors• Lotte Lenya

Designers• Casper and Erika Neher• Hainer Hill• Karl Von Appen• Mordecai Gorelik

• Mikhail Apletin – Union of Soviet Writers

• Georg Groz – Illustrator

• Herbert Ihering – Theatre Critic

• Alfred Kerr – Opposing Critic

• Karl Korsch – Philosopher

• Rudolg Schumacher - Artist