International Brecht Society

The International Brecht Society Homepage is maintained as a service to scholars, critics, students, and theater people round the world who are interested in the works and thought of Brecht. Readers of the IBS website are encouraged to send announcements and information for posting. Please email the website Technical Supervisor. Mail or faxes sent to the website Managing Editor will take significantly longer to post.

The IBS was founded in 1970 on the model of Bertolt Brecht's own unrealized plans for a "Diderot Society". A non-profit, educational organization with a world-wide membership, the Society promotes the performance and understanding of Brecht's texts and addresses issues of politics and culture in contemporary life. It also encourages and supports local, national, and regional groups with related goals. In Brecht's spirit of collaborative work, the IBS hopes that this website will function as a clearinghouse, facilitating international contacts and exchange. It is committed to maintaining Brecht as a living force in the theater as well as in the political and cultural arenas, so that he remains - as he wished - an "unsettling presence". If you are interested in becoming a member of the IBS, click here. Members in the Euro zone can pay their dues by direct bank transfer to: Deutsche Bank Düsseldorf, Konto Nr. 76-74146, BLZ 300 700 24, IBAN DE53 3007 0024 0767 4146 00, BIC / Swift Code: DEUTDEDBDUE. Members who have questions about their membership status or who need to change any information should contact the secretary/treasurer, Paula Hanssen.

For more information about the contents of this site, click About this Site. Please use the menu bar to the left to navigate the IBS website.

Space for this page has been provided courtesy of the University of Wisconsin-Madison German Department. If you would like to view this page without frames, please click here.

Latest News

Brecht Theater in Los Angeles Saved (click here) / Brecht-Theater in Los Angeles gerettet (hier klicken)

Das Bertolt Brecht-Archiv in Berlin ist vom 1. 4. 2008 bis voraussichtlich Oktober 2008 wegen Sanierungsarbeit für die Benutzung geschlossen. Die Telefonnummern bleiben dieselben aber Zugang zu den Sammlungen kann nicht geleistet werden.
The Brecht-Archive in Berlin will be closed for all users from April 1 probably until October 2008 owing to major renovations. Telephone numbers remain the same but collections will not be accessible during this time.

Information: 49 - 40 / 20057 18 31
Email: bba@adk.de

The digital Brecht Yearbook, vols. 1-27 (1971-2002) / Das Brecht-Jahrbuch digital, Bd. 1-27 (1971-2002): http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/German.BrechtYearbook

Brecht and Death / Brecht und Der Tod, Brecht Yearbook / Brecht-Jahrbuch 32 (2007) has appeared in June 2007. Click here for the contents.

Brecht's Works in English: A Bibliography
Check this new website with over 2,600 entries if you are looking for Brecht's plays, poems, songs, stories, or essays in English translation: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/BrechtGuide/

Check the "electronic Communications" website, maintained by Communications editor Norm Roessler, for current play reviews, bibliography, and other treats! http://www.ecibs.org/new/index.php

Neue / New CD:
"Margarete Steffin: Prosa - Gedichte - Briefe"
Ute Kaiser (Stimme / Voice)
Achim Tang (Kontrabass)
Nemu Records: www.nemu-records.com
info@be1two.net

Erwin Geschonneck (1906-2008)
Der Film- und Theaterschauspieler Erwin Geschonneck ist 101-jährig in Berlin verstorben. Er war Theater-Schüler von Bertolt Brecht am Berliner Ensemble und wirkte in zahlreichen Kino- und Fernsehfilmen der DEFA mit.
Film and stage actor Erwin Geschonneck has passed away in Berlin at the age of 101. He studied acting with Brecht at the Berliner Ensemble and appeared in numerous DEFA film and tv features.

Questions about English-language performance rights of Brecht's plays? Click here for more details. To view/download a .pdf file for information from A&C Black on ordering books click here.

Brecht Listserve for IBS members:
Click to join the IBS listserve at Yahoo! groups. This listserve is PRIVATE and is a service available only to IBS members! Non-members who wish to post will be denied access by the moderator. IBS members with questions or concerns about joining and/or using the listserve should direct their inquiries to the moderator here.

The IBS members re-elected the steering committee members in December 2007 to two-year terms:
President: Hans Thies Lehmann (Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main)
Vice-President: Erdmut Wizisla (Bertolt-Brecht-Archiv, Berlin)
Secretary-Treasurer: Paula Hanssen (Webster University, St. Louis)
Editor, Communications: Norman Roessler (Temple University, Philadelphia)

Managing Editor: Marc Silberman
Technical Supervisor: Kristopher Imbrigotta

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