The Good Woman of Szechwan

Chronology of Brecht's Life

1898	Brecht is born on February 10 in Augsburg, East Berlin.
1917	Was enrolled into the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich to study medicine. Brecht's intentions were never focused on his medical career, preferring instead to write poetry and sing songs he wrote on guitar at the local seedy pub. His enrolment in the university was to prevent himself from being drafted off to war. He pleaded with his father to help him avoid the strains of war. Luckily his father's feelings were of a similar fashion and it was his idea to put Brecht into medical school. However, his intentions may have been due more to the fact that he wished his son to do more than write poetry all day.
1918	Brecht's attempt to avoid the war did not succeed, as he was recruited as a medical orderly in an army hospital for a short time.
1919	Brecht acquired freelance work on a small newspaper called Augsburger Volkswille, writing criticism for theatre productions. It was at this time, his first, and very much malicious publication ever came out.
1922	Publication of plays Baal and Trommeln in der Nacht. Brecht had been working on Baal for years, changing the name constantly before settling on the aforementioned title. Baal was inspired by Brecht's student life, while he attended med school. It is almost autobiographical in a sense, as it is about the life of a young poet on the road to inspiration, and all the troubles he encounters. Trommeln in der Nacht – or Drums In The Night – was written in the aftermath of his experience at war.
1923	Premier of Baal in Leipzig. Reviews were mixed, and overall it was concluded as an uninteresting and undesirable play.
1924	Brecht moved to Berlin to broaden his mind, and in search for creative intent. It was also during this time that Brecht developed quite an aggressive ‘anti-bourgeois' attitude. This group aimed at annihilating the ‘false standards' of bourgeois art. They achieved this through mockery and iconoclastic satire. He studied Karl Marx's Das Kapital, which was shown to him by a man called Karl Kosch. Brecht emerged himself in friends who were part of the Dadaist Group. He was also lucky enough to work with the directors Max Reinhardt (the director and owner of The Duetsches Theatre). His use of staging crowd scenes and lighting effects aided in the making of what theatre and film is today. He was, not only a Jew in the midst of Nazi German, but a Jew with a high status, and this was seen as threatening. When the Nazi's infiltrated his theatres, he was forced to flee the country. He fled to America, where Brecht would eventually find himself (although it is unclear if the two ever met, seeing as their work together in Berlin was brief) and Erwin Piscator (an important man who helped build Modernist Theatre).
1926	Combined with a fellow friend Homolka, Brecht produced Baal, and its production commenced at Duetsches Theatre. It was during this year also that Brecht publicly mentioned the prospects of ‘epic theatre' in an article in a magazine called Die literarische Welt.
1928	His most successful commercial work: Threepenny Opera premiers at Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. Brecht was now officially a communist, due to his study of Marxism and strong belief in everything that communism stood for.
1930	Brechts' books and plays were banned in Germany. His productions were interrupted profusely by the police, or otherwise banned altogether. This was the beginning of his exile. Began collaboration with Hanns Eisler (a revolutionary man in music) who fled Germany after being accused that he had ‘communist influences' on the industry – but returned to reunite with Brecht. Together they searched for a communicative style of theatre and music, which was hard in a society such as Germany at the time. He was an optimist, and took the art form to a new level to create the play Die Massnahme – The Measures Taken. During this year, Brecht became more outspoken about his communist beliefs and theories.
1931	Threepenny Opera is adapted in to a film
1932	Along with Ernst Ottwalt, Brecht writes the script for Kuhle Wampe, which was released in this year.
1933	Sent into exile due to his strong communist beliefs. Although Brecht was slightly anti-semitic, he was forced out by the Nazis who powered the Hitler government. Fled to Scandinavia where he created a ballet of sorts called Anna-Anna ou les Sept Peches Capitaux which premiered at Theatre des Champs-Elusees, Paris.
1936	Winter issue of Life and Letters – a London magazine/newspaper – prints an essay of Brecht's called The Fourth Wall Of China. This article is the first record that mentions the ‘verfremdungseffekt' or ‘alienation effect'.
1941	Mother Courage – a play about the chronicles of war. We watch in this play how the woman, Mother Courage, follows the armies around selling goods from her wagon, one by one loosing her children to the war. Despite her loss of family, she refuses to leave her wagon, a symbol of her livelihood.
1942	Moved to the USA to pursue a career in writing for films. However, when Brecht arrived in Hollywood, he found it to be disappointing and lacking in creative attention. Started minor work on The Good Woman Of Szechwan; a play set in the slums of China. An odd move, seeing as Brecht had never even seen China.
1943	The premier of The Good Woman Of Szechwan at Zurich Schauspielhaus.
1947/8	Teamed up with old friend Hanns Eisler to write Galileo, in which Eisler writes the stage music. Tired of Hollywood, and of America, Brecht moved to Europe and lived in Zurich. Brecht's wife, Helen Weigel's first professional appearance since 1933 in Antigone, at the premiere of Galileo in Switzerland.
1949	Officially invited back into Germany by the government, Brecht moved once more, back to Berlin. Helen Weigel and Brecht, with Engel, produced a production of Mother Courage, which occurred at Deutsches Theatre. This marked the beginnings of the Berliner Company – founded by Brecht.
1954	The first German premier of The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Theater am Schiffbauerdamm.
1956	Brecht dies of coronary difficulties in his home.