Bertolt Brecht

Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht came of age in Weimar Germany, finding early success as a playwright in Munich before moving to Berlin in 1924. There he wrote The Threepenny Opera with Elisabeth Hauptmann and Kurt Weill, began a lifelong collaboration with composer Hanns Eisler, and immersed himself in Marxist thought. He developed epic theatre and the Verfremdungseffekt - techniques meant to jolt audiences into critical distance. When the Nazis took power in 1933, he fled to Scandinavia, then to Southern California during World War II, where he wrote screenplays under FBI surveillance. Subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 for alleged Communist ties, he testified and left for Europe the next day. He settled in East Berlin and co-founded the Berliner Ensemble with his wife, actress Helene Weigel, where he remained until his death in 1956.