1898-1956. German dramatist and poet, who
aimed to destroy the `suspension of
disbelief' usual in the theatre and to
express Marxist ideas. He adapted John Gay's
Beggar's Opera as Die Dreigroschenoper/The
Threepenny Opera 1928, set to music by Kurt
Weill. Later plays include Mutter
Courage/Mother Courage 194l, set during the
Thirty Years' War, and Der kaukasische
Kreidekreis/The Caucasian Chalk Circle 1949.
As an anti-Nazi, he left Germany in 1933 for
Scandinavia and the US. He became an Austrian
citizen after World War II; in 1949 he
established the Berliner Ensemble theatre
group in East Germany.