Mrs. Carrar's rifles
Ms. Carrar's Guns is a 1937 play by Bertolt Brecht .
Emergence
It is based on an idea from the play Riders to the Sea by John Millington Synge , an Irish playwright. Brecht was inspired by his colleague, the director Slatan Dudow , to write something about the events of the Spanish Civil War . His work, which in the first version had Generals over Bilbao as its title, was the answer. It was created with the help of Margarete Steffin . It was one of his most frequently performed pieces during Brecht's lifetime. The premiere took place on October 16, 1937 in the Salle Adyar in Paris , with Helene Weigel playing the title role . Due to the current events in Spain , Brecht had left the end of the piece open until the rehearsal for the premiere. The German premiere was on May 16, 1946 at the Hebbel Theater in Berlin . In 1939 Brecht added a prologue and made minor changes in 1952.
action
The action takes place in a small fisherman's house in a small Andalusian fishing village near Málaga in Spain, where Teresa Carrar and her two sons live. Her 20-year-old son Juan is currently fishing in the sea, while his 15-year-old brother José is watching at the window to see if Juan's lamp is still on. The father Carlo died in the civil war from a lung shot. Pedro, the mother's brother, comes by on the pretext of visiting her, but is really only interested in the dead man's guns . They begin to discuss the war, and gradually different people join in, each with a different stance on the war. Teresa Carrar wants to keep herself and her two sons out of the civil war, because "Whoever takes up the sword will perish by the sword" ( Matthew 26:52 GNB ). Suddenly some women and two fishermen come into their house with Juan in a blood-soaked sail. Her son was shot dead by a passing Francoist ship, and now the mother suddenly changes her posture. When she heard of the breakthrough of the Franquists in Málaga, she grabbed a rifle herself and went to the front with her brother and son.
background
Brecht himself described the piece as "Aristotelian (empathetic) drama" and suggested showing it together with a documentary film on the Spanish Civil War. His point of view that in the conflict between “the good” and “the bad” also “the good” cannot do without violence, becomes visible here as in earlier plays. In addition, there is the thought that there can be no neutrality in such disputes. “Staying out” does not protect against being painfully affected yourself, and the missing or late decision for “the good” only helps “the bad” to prevail.
German speaking radio play
- 1949: Radio play adaptation: Gerhard W. Menzel , director: Werner Wieland with Annemarie Hentschel, Heinz Scholze, Peter Dornseif a . a., vocals: Ernst Busch , production: MDR Leipzig, July 17, 1949
- 1953: Director: Egon Monk , assistant director: Isot Kilian and Werner Grunow , with Helene Weigel, Ekkehard Schall , Erwin Geschonneck a . a. Production: Broadcasting of the GDR, January 23, 1953
- In 1967, the Hessischer Rundfunk , directed by Dieter Munck, staged a 60-minute radio play of the same title with Edith Schultze-Westrum , Karl Paryla and Grete Wurm in the leading roles.
Movie and TV
- September 11, 1953: Broadcast of a television production by the Berliner Ensemble with Helene Weigel and Ekkehard Schall on German television . It was the first ever German-language television production of a Brecht work.
- March 3, 1975: Broadcasting of a ZDF television film with Hanne Hiob .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Werner Hecht: Brecht Chronicle 1998–1956. Additions . Suhrkamp, Frankfurt / M. 2007, ISBN 978-3-518-41858-1 , p. 59.
- ↑ Werner Hecht (Ed.): Everything Brecht is ... Facts - Comments - Opinions - Pictures . Frankfurt / M. 1997, p. 261.
- ↑ a b Werner Hecht (Ed.): Everything that Brecht is ... Facts - Comments - Opinions - Pictures . Frankfurt / M. 1997, p. 267 ff.