Included in the Program
By dramaturg Emily Anne Gibson
The Private Life of the Master Race is an altered, condensed version of Bertolt Brecht’s Fear and Misery in the Third Reich, a play that was written and produced in 1938 at the height of the Nazi regime. During this time, Adolf Hitler was the Führer (Leader) of Germany, a country on the verge of invading Poland and launching World War II.
Private Life gives us a glimpse into the world of pre-World War II Germany. Brecht hoped to show us a sampling of civilian reaction to Hitler’s regime. The play is an example of Brecht's epic theatre – which employs “defamiliarization” (sometimes translated as “alienation”) to help us look at the situation in a new way and encourage us to criticize or agree with the actions of the characters. He hoped that by helping audiences regard the scenes as a representation of a historical reality he would prompt discussion, and from discussion, change.
After World War II had ended, Brecht himself considered this play to be more valuable as a historical piece than anything else. We argue that Private Life is not merely a museum piece. Every day, all over the world, governments are doing injustice to their citizens. The people of today’s world must answer the same question that plagues the characters of Private Life: What choice will you make in the face of fear and tyranny?
Our production includes even fewer scenes from the original play than the 1945 production of Private Life, and we encourage you to investigate the tableaus we had to leave out.
The Private Life of the Master Race is an altered, condensed version of Bertolt Brecht’s Fear and Misery in the Third Reich, a play that was written and produced in 1938 at the height of the Nazi regime. During this time, Adolf Hitler was the Führer (Leader) of Germany, a country on the verge of invading Poland and launching World War II.
Private Life gives us a glimpse into the world of pre-World War II Germany. Brecht hoped to show us a sampling of civilian reaction to Hitler’s regime. The play is an example of Brecht's epic theatre – which employs “defamiliarization” (sometimes translated as “alienation”) to help us look at the situation in a new way and encourage us to criticize or agree with the actions of the characters. He hoped that by helping audiences regard the scenes as a representation of a historical reality he would prompt discussion, and from discussion, change.
After World War II had ended, Brecht himself considered this play to be more valuable as a historical piece than anything else. We argue that Private Life is not merely a museum piece. Every day, all over the world, governments are doing injustice to their citizens. The people of today’s world must answer the same question that plagues the characters of Private Life: What choice will you make in the face of fear and tyranny?
Our production includes even fewer scenes from the original play than the 1945 production of Private Life, and we encourage you to investigate the tableaus we had to leave out.
An Audience Guide to Nazi Germany
Please, let the cheerful Hitler Youth welcome you to our National Socialist State! Since our Führer came to power in 1933, things have been changing rapidly. The Weimar Republic has been replaced by National Socialism, and not a minute too soon. We suffered terrible losses in the Great War, but under the Führer's bold leadership the country is quickly healing. Unemployment is down, industry is high, and the Führer is unafraid to reclaim territories that were once ours. The future of the Fatherland looks bright. With the intimidating storm troopers of the S.A. (Sturmabteilung) policing the streets; with the S.S. (Schutzstaffel) firmly in control of the labor camps; and with the powerful Gestapo monitoring the whole nation’s every move and word, you can rest assured that no political enemy stands a chance against the Nazi regime. Of course, loyal citizens of the Third Reich have nothing to fear. But we’re doing some long-needed housecleaning, and the social democrats and communists aren’t the only ones who need to be swept out. The Nuremburg Laws are leading the way to ridding the Fatherland of its Jewish problem once and for all, by banning Jews from marrying Germans and stripping them of Reich citizenship. We’re slowly restricting their rights and weeding them out of wholesome German society. Germany will be for the Germans once again.
Of course, even among Germans we have “grumblers”. Take for example that Marxist, Bertolt Brecht. He fled Germany, knowing that the subject of his plays and other writings would not be tolerated by our government. Now, from afar, he is trying to discredit everything our Führer has worked for with his anti-Nazi propaganda play, with scenes inspired by what he claims are actual events that have appeared in newspapers or have been relayed to him by others fleeing Germany.
Even though we have troublemakers like Brecht, we also have the good citizens of the Third Reich, who daily help us battle our political enemies. The first love of Germans is their Führer, and everyone knows that those who act against the Third Reich must be punished. In this way Germany protects itself from within. We provide our citizens with everything they need to know through our newspaper, the Volkischer Beobachter, and our carefully constructed radio broadcasts (none of which contain any of that dreadful Bolshevik propaganda you hear on the Russian waves). No one in Germany need have any doubt that we are gaining steam and claiming victory after victory!
The New World Order starts here. The glory of a newly invigorated Fatherland awaits. So take a seat and join us in our rousing National Anthem. You’ll love it here. You’d better.
Of course, even among Germans we have “grumblers”. Take for example that Marxist, Bertolt Brecht. He fled Germany, knowing that the subject of his plays and other writings would not be tolerated by our government. Now, from afar, he is trying to discredit everything our Führer has worked for with his anti-Nazi propaganda play, with scenes inspired by what he claims are actual events that have appeared in newspapers or have been relayed to him by others fleeing Germany.
Even though we have troublemakers like Brecht, we also have the good citizens of the Third Reich, who daily help us battle our political enemies. The first love of Germans is their Führer, and everyone knows that those who act against the Third Reich must be punished. In this way Germany protects itself from within. We provide our citizens with everything they need to know through our newspaper, the Volkischer Beobachter, and our carefully constructed radio broadcasts (none of which contain any of that dreadful Bolshevik propaganda you hear on the Russian waves). No one in Germany need have any doubt that we are gaining steam and claiming victory after victory!
The New World Order starts here. The glory of a newly invigorated Fatherland awaits. So take a seat and join us in our rousing National Anthem. You’ll love it here. You’d better.