Brecht Collected Plays: 7: Visions of Simone Machard; Schweyk in the Second World War; Caucasian Chalk Circle; Duchess of Malfi

Published by Methuen Drama, the collected dramatic works of Bertolt Brecht are presented in the most comprehensive and authoritative editions of Brecht’s plays in the English language.

The seventh volume of Brecht’s Collected Plays contains the plays which Brecht wrote during his six-year stay in the United States from 1942 to 1948. The Visions of Simone Machard is a French resistance version of the Joan of Arc story. Schweyk in the Second World War transposes Hasek’s ‘good soldier’ to the Prague of Hitler and Heydrich. The Caucasian Chalk Circle, based on the biblical story of the judgement of Solomon, was originally written for production on Broadway, with W. H. Auden responsible for the verse. A morality masterpiece, the play powerfully demonstrates Brecht’s pioneering theatrical techniques and has since become one of his most popular works.

The translations are ideal for both study and performance. The volume is accompanied by a full introduction and notes by the series editor John Willett and includes Brecht’s own notes and relevant texts as well as all the important textual variants.