Sale 2683 - Lot 214

Brecht, Bertolt (1898-1956), Berliner Ensemble.
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Photo Album of the First Production.

Berliner Ensemble: [Stuttgart, West Germany], [1958].

Oblong folio-format playbook containing original photographs with typed captions; consisting of 426 black-and-white photos showing the set and actors in multiple views of every scene; bound in light gray cloth with printed spine label (dampstains to spine and lower board); 11 5/8 x 9 1/4 in.

Brecht's Arturo Ui is an allegorical satire aimed at the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany before the start of the Second World War. Brecht completed the play in 1941 and hoped to see it onstage right away, either in the U.S. or Europe. Although Brecht had an English translation in hand, the United States was still acting as a neutral party in the European conflict and was ill-disposed to stage such a politically charged production. The play was shelved until Brecht and his wife, actress Helene Weigel, founded the Berliner Ensemble in 1949. It saw light again in 1953, but was not produced by the Ensemble until 1959, three years after Brecht's death. This playbook includes presumably never-before-seen images of the play's first production for internal use. Peter Palitzch and Manfred Wekwerth co-directed. Ekkehard Schall played the lead role of Arturo Ui.