Brecht And Ionesco

"Concerned with the extent to which political commitment (or the lack of it) influences drama, Julian Wulbern examines the polemics, dramatic theory, and theatrical practice of Brecht and lonesco to help resolve the confusion which has resulted in part from lonesco's misunderstanding and criticism of Brecht's theories concerning 'epic' theater. Drawing heavily on his direct experience of the plays as performed in the original languages, as well as on his work with the Berliner Ensemble and on personal contact with lonesco, Wulbern seeks to put the special form of commitment adopted by each author into the context of his creative works. Focusing on the later works of each man, Wulbern first analyzes the play which makes the clearest statement of each playwright's particular viewpoint: Brecht's The Measures Taken and lonesco's Rhinoceros. He show that both of these works are more than topical statements or sententious documents, for both deal ultimately with the situation of man in twentieth-century mass society. In an examination of Brecht's The Life of Galileo and lonesco's Exit the King, Wulbern shows further how intentions often get lost in the process of creating a work of art. Despite Brecht's clearly polemic intentions, his later works function dialectically; they pose fundamental questions concerning the conduct of human life. And despite lonesco's aspiration to universality, his works are so conditioned by his obsessive view of life's absurdity that they become reduced to his own unique form of polemic."- Publisher