Books

Brecht according to Strehler: when epic theatre revolutionised the audience

Seventy years on from the Italian premiere of The Threepenny Opera, an essay traces the journey of Brecht and Weill’s masterpiece at the Piccolo Teatro

by Grazia Lissi

21 October 2026

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3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Whilst Strehler regarded Brecht as his mentor, Brecht found in Strehler his most passionate and committed disciple. Seventy years on from the Italian premiere of “The Threepenny Opera”, an important volume has been published that explores the director’s thoughts on the German playwright: “Giorgio Strehler, Brecht’s *The Threepenny Opera*: Reflections, Director’s Notes, Stagings, edited by Flavia Foradini, with a foreword by Claudio Longhi” (Piccolo il Saggiatore, €27.00; 359 pp.).

Delving into the countless texts, notes, letters and reflections that underpin the genesis and production of “The Threepenny Opera” is a painstaking and meticulous task that Flavia Foradini carries out with sensitivity and expertise. The essay follows a chronological journey marked by the various stages of the production of “The Threepenny Opera”: the first performance in 1956, and the revivals in 1958, 1973 and 1986. A lengthy, at times imaginary, dialogue between Giorgio Strehler and Bertolt Brecht, with its questions and reflections, confirms the director’s conviction: “I am not infallible”. For Strehler, Brecht represents a challenge that is constantly renewed; it is no coincidence that, in the 1970s, the director wrote: ‘The work on / with Brecht has only just begun’.

Brecht taught me to doubt

“Not the doubt that paralyses, but active doubt, which spurs one on to action whilst never allowing that foolish certainty of being the custodians of the truth to surface” is the quote from Strehler that Flavia Foradini chooses as the epigraph to her essay. Theatrical texts and Brechtian acting practice have long influenced the work of Giorgio Strehler and Paolo Grassi, co-founder with the director of the Piccolo Teatro. It was Grassi who first met the playwright from Augsburg. They had met in 1948, and not long afterwards, in 1953, the courageous Piccolo Teatro brought, to a Berlin still in ruins, in a half-destroyed theatre, Carlo Goldoni’s *Arlecchino, Servant of Two Masters*, a symbol of rebirth for the theatre as well.

The book features a moving account by Paolo Grassi, who recalls the audience’s reaction to the performance, including that of Bertolt Brecht, Langhoff and Herbert Ihering. It was also in memory of that evening that the playwright and poet decided to come to Milan to attend the premiere of *The Threepenny Opera*.

The book also includes a transcript of the conversation that took place in Berlin between Brecht and Strehler, which formed the basis of a deep, personal relationship that became increasingly less professional.

Set against the historical and cultural backdrop of Italia and Europe, this book brings together texts, interviews, letters and reflections on *The Threepenny Opera*, the production that transformed the dramatic form of theatre into an epic form. Epic theatre, unlike traditional theatre, engages the audience and transforms them “into observers; it stimulates their active participation and compels them to make decisions”.

Alienation: when theatre becomes political action

It is the key to understanding Brecht’s theatre. Alienation leads the audience to political awareness and to action; for Strehler, it was a daunting task – as the book describes so well – to guide his actors, who were accustomed to acting with emotion, towards this new technique. The other difficulty lay in the language, both in the acting and in the songs; German often ends in consonants, whereas Italian never does; to adapt Kurt Weill’s music, Strehler called upon Gino Negri and Bruno Maderna, who took to the podium to conduct it. The final chapter brings together texts that did not originate during the production of the play but stem from Strehler’s commitment to disseminating Bertolt Brecht’s writings, on the reception of the work in Italia, and on the relationship the director had with the Berliner Ensemble. The volume concludes with an exchange of letters with the institution’s then director, Manfred Wekwerth, in 1990, following the fall of the Wall, to whom Giorgio Strehler wrote: ‘I have spent my whole life in theatre, engaging with Brecht…In the repertoire and amongst those who have staged these plays, you will not find a single name that contradicts the Brechtian method and the ideals of a left-wing, democratic, free and, at the same time, progressive movement, attentive to history and beauty’.

Giorgio Strehler, Brecht’s *The Threepenny Opera*: Reflections, director’s notes and productions, edited by Flavia Foradini, with a foreword by Claudio Longhi, Piccolo il Saggiatore, €27.00; 359 pages.