Those of you who studied theatre at A-level will have heard of Bertolt Brecht. For those of you denied that pleasure, allow me to introduce you: Bert, Reader; Reader, Bert. 
The guy lived and worked in Germany between the world wars, and as he saw how the aristocracy and big business oppressed ordinary people, he gradually became convinced of socialism. He was a writer/director, and tried to find a way to create theatre that would make its audience think about social problems – and change their lives – instead of just being swept along by emotion and then forget all about it. For that I’ve always counted him a sort of hero, and have tried to use his ideas a lot myself.
Among A-level drama students, he doesn’t have the best reputation. This may be because the average drama student thinks very little about social problems, but may be even more because sometimes Brecht’s plays seem a little.. well.. boring.
hhh
I have discovered myself that writing analysis into drama is pretty difficult to do while keeping it entertaining. Aaron Sorkin etc actually do it very well in The West Wing, by having passionate, MENSA brained characters hammer each other over political hot potatoes with the best they’ve got. Brecht would have liked that. He’d have called it, ‘dialectics’. Maybe that’s why people don’t like him.
I reckon The West Wing manages to make analysis entertaining because a) it’s funny and b) you’re emotionally involved. Now Brecht is full of comedy – dry, black, twisted, sarcastic, and slapstick comedy, like Woody Allen on a rainy day – but he is not known for his emotional side. I want to redress that.
The other thing Brecht is less well known for is his poetry. Yes, socialists write poems. Of course they don’t spend much time discussing ‘hosts of golden daffodils’. And the best ones don’t rhyme, scan or have even stanzas. But they’re great anyway. And plenty emotional. One of my favourites is To Posterity. Allow me to share it with you...
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