By Bertolt Brecht By Bertolt Brecht Translated by Translated by

By Bertolt Brecht
Translated by Ralph Manhelm
Performance Notes for Educators
Prepared by Katie Stewart
The purpose of this document is to provide Queensland educators with information and resources for
Queensland Theatre Company’s production of The Exception and The Rule.
Rule. The activities and resources
contained in this document are designed as the starting point for educators in developing more
comprehensive lessons for this production. Katie Stewart is seconded to Queensland Theatre Company
from Education Queensland as an Education Liaison Officer.
© Queensland Government (Education Queensland) and Queensland Theatre Company 2009. Copyright protects this publication. Except for the
purposes permitted by the Copyright Act, reproduction by whatever means is prohibited. However, limited photocopying for classroom use is
permitted by educational institutions that have a license with the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL). This material includes work from the Education
Liaison Officer and is reproduced with the permission of the owner, Department of Education, Queensland, PO Box 33, Brisbane Albert Street,
Queensland, Australia, 4002. Any inquiries should be addressed to the Education Liaison Officer, Youth & Education Program, Queensland Theatre
Company, PO Box 3310 South Brisbane BC Queensland 4101.
Produced by Queensland Theatre Company and Education Queensland.
Table of Contents
How to Act at the Theatre
3
Synopsis & Artistic Team
4
Curriculum Connections
5
About the Playwright — Bertolt Brecht
6
Director’s Insight – Joseph Mitchell
8
Designer’s Insight – Helen Jacobs
9
Actor’s Insight – Timothy Dashwood
10
Director’s Notes by Joseph Mitchell
11
Brecht Sourcebook – Edited by Carol Martin and Henry Bial
13
Post Performance Discussion Questions and Websites of Interest
14
Script Excerpt – The Exception and The
The Rule
15
Script Excerpt – The Exception and The
The Rule
17
Classroom Activities
19
Suggested Assessment
20
Set Model Box
22
2
How to Act at the Theatre (when you’re not on stage)
Be in your seat five minutes before the show starts
Food and drinks are not permitted in the theatre
Be respectful to other audience members
TURN OFF all electrical devices before entering the theatre
Save note taking and discussion for AFTER the show
Feel free to laugh, cry and applaud
3
Synopsis – The Exception and The Rule
Written by Bertolt Brecht
A race through the Yahi desert to secure oil reserves by money-hungry
merchants results in the death of an exploited worker. When the worker’s
family try to claim compensation, the legal system’s prejudices towards
the privileged classes are exposed.
Brecht’s comment that “art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer
with which to shape it”, is the starting point for this new production of The
Exception and The
The Rule. This radical interpretation of Brecht’s play
includes a range of contemporary performance techniques exploring how Brecht’s work can be staged with
relevance in the 21st Century.
Artistic Team
Timothy Dashwood
Steven Rooke
Christopher Sommers
Anthony Standish
Guide
Merchant
Other/Judge
Coolie
Joseph Mitchell
Helen Jacobs
Ben Hughes
Phil Slade
Melissa Agnew
Andrew Cory
Jason King
Director
Designer
Lighting Designer
Composer/Sound Designer
Voice Consultant
Clowning Consultant
Fight Choreographer
Sophia Dalton
Jess Audsley
Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Manager
4
Curriculum Connections
Themes / Ideas
Exploitation
Corruption
Class, privilege and nepotism
Performance / Dramatic Elements
Elements
Brechtian techniques
Political Theatre
Updated interpretation
of Heritage text
Comedy and other stylised
performance techniques
The Exception and The Rule is one of Brecht’s ‘Learning Plays’. Originally written to be performed for
students, the play demonstrates how people from privileged classes can exploit and harm working class
people for personal gain. This production is a new interpretation of the original text and incorporates a
blend of classic Brechtian techniques and cutting-edge contemporary performance.
[R] 90 mins, including 10 minute Q&A
[L] Some coarse language
[V] Simulated violence
[S] Low sexual overtones
[ELO] Suitable for Year 9 — 12 students, this play has been transformed to appeal to a contemporary
audience, but stays true to the conventions of Brechtian Theatre.
5
About the Playwright – Bertolt Brecht
Born Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht in Augsburg, Bavaria,
10th February, 1898.
In 1917, he enrolled as a medical student at the Ludwig
Maximilian University of Munich, but also completed many
Arts subjects.
This led Brecht to write his first play Baal – he strongly
disliked his teacher’s favourite play and believed he himself
could write a better version.
In 1918 Brecht was conscripted as a medical orderly in World
War I, during which time he wrote his second play Drums in
the Night.
In 1922, Drums in the Night became the first of Brecht’s plays to be performed, and was critically
acclaimed, winning Brecht the Kleist Prize – Germany’s most prestigious award for dramatic
writing.
The same year, Brecht married his first wife, Marianne Zoff, an actress and opera singer, and in
1923, his daughter was born.
1924, Brecht moved to Berlin and during his time there, produced The Threepenny Opera, leading
the resurgence of musicals worldwide. He also wrote his first book during this time, Die
Hauspostille.
In 1927, Brecht began to study Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, which discussed Capitalism, and the idea
of a Socialist revolution. By 1929, he had embraced Communism, a fact that was clearly evident in
his works.
Brecht married his second wife in 1929, Helene Weigel, and the two had a son and daughter
together.
In 1932 Brecht scripted a semi-documentary about the mass unemployment in Germany during the
time, entitled Kuhle Wampe.
In February 1933, Nazi Germany was instated and Brecht fled with his family to Prague. Brecht’s
works were banned throughout Germany and staged productions of his written works were
quickly put to a stop.
In May 1941, Brecht received a visa to live and work in America and moved to California, where he
attempted to write Hollywood movie scripts. None of these scripts were successful with
producers, save for Hangmen Also Die (1943), about the assassination of Nazi leader, “Hangman”
Reinhard Heydrich.
Brecht left the US in 1947. At the time, Hollywood was in a heightened, almost panicked state of
anti-Communist and anti-Socialist thinking. Actors, writers, producers and directors were
interrogated about their belief systems, and while Brecht managed to convince those questioning
him that he was no threat, he fled to Switzerland.
Following 15 years of exile from Germany, Brecht returned in 1948, where he was welcomed by the
Communist cultural establishment.
Brecht founded his own company, the Berliner Ensemble, in 1949.
6
In 1954 Brecht was rewarded his own theatre, but often found that his political theories did not
mesh with those of his audience, the Communists of East Germany.
In his last years, Brecht wrote few plays, but some of the most successful poems of his career,
including the Buckower Elegies.
In 1955, Brecht received the Stalin Peace Prize.
Brecht suffered a heart attack and subsequently passed on August the 14th, 1956. He was 58 at the
time, and had written upwards of 50 plays.
7
Director’s Insight – Joseph Mitchell
As a director, how did you develop a ‘vision’ for this production?
I began by reading articles about Brecht himself, particularly his own work as
a director and his uncanny ability to disturb audiences through various
staging and performance techniques. One example was Brecht’s staging of
The Baden Baden Lesson on Consent in 1929 which included a scene where
two clowns saw off the limbs of another clown on stage (using wooden
broom sticks as arms and legs). Many people in the audience fainted at the
sight and eventually a riot broke out. Brecht as a director and playwright
wanted his theatre to be anything but forgettable. This became my starting
point for our production – how to present a Brecht production in a way which
was just as fresh, exciting and confronting as any production Brecht would have staged himself 80 years
ago.
With this research and planning done, I began speaking with the design team and cast. We shared
materials and discussed approaches to the play and eventually moved towards a design concept that
allowed for my initial vision to be realised but with enough room for a whole range of new ideas to be
incorporated through the rehearsal process from everyone involved.
What techniques did you use in the rehearsal
rehearsal room to adapt the script for a contemporary audience?
For this play – the process involved working through the script several times during the rehearsal process –
each time, exploring the possibilities of each scene further with the actors. In the first few days of
rehearsal we started with a straight forward reading of the text and then began to dig out a more
contemporary updating of the play by looking for interesting performative approaches to each scene. While
doing this, I also had to try and keep thinking about how each scene would fit together with a growing
range of varying performance styles. Towards the end of rehearsal we began to smooth these out with
transitions and some light and music.
8
Designer’s Insight — Helen Jacobs
What process did you go through to design the set for The Exception and The
The
Rule?
For The Exception and The
The Rule the process was very intellectual, much more
than usual. Brecht’s work and concepts were the focus of my discussions
with the director. So it wasn’t until after we had taken a thought provoking
journey through the land of Brecht that we started to look at relevant
imagery for our ‘school concept.’
Why did you decide upon a school context for the set and costumes?
The school concept came from several linking areas of thought. We thought about our audiences and how
class structure and the idea of status quo related to them. We looked at Brecht as a man and his personal
behaviour which typifies the ‘kidult’ psychology. Brecht’s work and concepts was the other area of
influence, particularly the ‘Lehrstück’ (German learning play) using reality and play, learning and
entertainment.
What challenges did you have to overcome when designing the set?
The greatest challenge as the designer was to tread a fine line with the school boy costuming. Because of
the nature of the work and its direction, we wanted the audience to constantly be aware of the actor
themselves, not just a character onstage. We therefore tried to mix a motley picture with school uniform
pieces and hints of the actor’s personality, as well as hints of the character they played.
9
Actor’s Insight – Timothy Dashwood
How has the rehearsal process for The Exception and The
The Rule been
different from other plays
plays you have performed in?
In this production we have challenged the ‘norms’ of theatre and
created a jigsaw that we have had to piece together. Also, it has
forced us to go against our natural impulses as actors and fight what
is expected. Like most performances it has been a challenge to learn
how to work with other actors who I’ve never worked with. This was
a challenge because we all come to the table with our own
understanding of Brecht which has in turn informed the
interpretation of this production.
From an actors perspective, what is appealing about this play?
This is one of those plays where we are allowed to ‘play’ and go against what is expected. In a way we
were given permission to experiment with different styles and approaches – some succeeded, many didn’t,
but it has been a fantastic collaborative process.
When changing from character to character in one play, what techniques do you use to transition to each
character and make them believable?
This play is different from others because it is quite representational and it isn’t the actor’s job to become
the character – we are presenting characters. We use different styles and normally the style chooses the
techniques. Usually, a physical representation helps me, but each character is different and needs a
different approach.
10
Director’s Notes by Joseph Mitchell
The following passages are excerpts from collected Director Notes in the preparation stages leading into
the design and rehearsal of The Exception and The Rule.
NOTES FROM JANUARY 2008
Research Areas – Lehrstück
Lehrstück is German for Learning Play. The Exception and The
The Rule is considered to be Lehrstück. This was
a type of play which Brecht worked on during the period between 1928 – 1931 when he was in his late 20’s
early 30’s. During this time, Brecht had aligned himself with the Communist party of Germany (although,
wisely, he never joined it).
The key Lehrstück plays are:
He Who Says Yes/No
The Exception and The
The Rule
The Measures Taken
The Flight over the Ocean
Brecht was interested in reaching new audiences, hence the plays were written with school students,
worker’s collectives and choirs in mind.
The works consist of sparse and fast moving narratives which demonstrate almost mythical stories that are
often devoid of any melodramatic language.
The aim of them was to educate the non-traditional theatre audiences, often by actively involving the
audience in the play itself. So, with The Measures Taken for example, Brecht engaged approximately four
hundred and fifty singers from four different choirs to participate in the production as well as be the
audience. The choral singers were from communist parties and mild religious groups and rehearsals would
occur late at night after people had finished work.
He Who Says Yes/No was performed in schools, with the students completing questionnaires after each
performance asking about the political ideals presented. The Flight over the Ocean also involved the
audience as the active chorus, reading the dialogue to a single performer on stage.
In relation to performing Lehrstück to young audiences, Brecht noted: “The enormous importance of
theatre in the education of children is based on the insight that the stage provides a space that fuses
reality and play, a place where learning and entertainment are not separated.”
Roswitha Mueller notes: “The most far-reaching impact of the Lehrstück resides, not in its themes, but in
its structural innovation, which aims at a total abolition of the division between performance and
audience.”
There are a lot of counter-arguments and varied interpretations of what Brecht intended to achieve with
Lehrstück. As close as one can get in summary is Brecht’s own admission that: “Lehrstück should not be
scrutinised for preposition or counterproposition, arguments for or against certain opinions, but only
physical exercises meant for the kind of athletes of the mind that good dialecticians should be.” Explained
in more simple terms: He does not suggest that the politics presented in the works present any formal
statement of finality, but rather, should be seen as a starting point for more discussion on issues of politics
and ethics.
11
Brecht’s ability to Distress his audience
During the period of Brecht’s Lehrstück, “emotion and near riot greeted virtually everything Brecht had so
far done or would ever do in the theatre.”
Brecht’s life and the plays which he presented were fast paced and often quite offensive. A riot broke out
after at the Baden Baden Music festival when the staging of a man getting his arms, legs and head sawed
off (using broomsticks and lots of blood) made many people faint.
There were numerous protests and refusals to perform He Who Says Yes and The Measures Taken. The
uproar from He Who Says Yes prompted Brecht to write He Who Says No as a counter point, however, this
play is rarely performed.
To correctly stage a Brecht play, some consideration into how successful and detrimental Brecht’s
uncanny ability to cause his audience distress is integral to the success of the work.
This will be partly determined in the design and rehearsal process, however, as a starting point, I should
indicate that we will be looking at the sequences where the Coolie is beaten as well as murdered. The
intention will be to play out the pathos here and see where it leads in rehearsal.
I am also interested in the idea of meta-theatre: the inability for an audience to accurately determine if
what is happening on stage is part of the ‘performance’ or a digression from it. This will be fleshed out
more at a later stage as well as in rehearsal. So for example, if an undeterminable action is done well
enough, and sustained properly, we may be able to carry it through to a point where the audience is
disorientated in terms of what is happening in the play. This for me is the heart of Brecht’s ideas on
alienation.
12
Brecht Sourcebook – Edited by Carol Martin and Henry Bial
Part one, Chapter five — Brecht’s Concept of Gestus and the American Performance
Performance Tradition
Tradition, Carl
Carl Weber
(Excerpts taken from pages 43, 44 and 45)
Whenever Brecht’s theory and practice of the theatre are discussed, the focus is mainly on the concept of
the Epic Theatre, on alienation, estrangement, distancing, – whatever term is preferred – and the
discussion yields vastly different opinions and often rather imaginative interpretations of what Brecht
supposedly did, or intended, as a theorist and practitioner of the theatre. There is, of course, the other
term coined by Brecht, Gestus. However, it seems to invite less attention and explication by Brecht
scholars. It certainly is not very familiar to actors and directors in the American theatre. I would like to talk
about Brecht’s concept of Gestus and formative influence American performance traditions had on it.
The term Gestus appeared first in Brecht’s writings in a theatre review he wrote in 1920 for a local
Augsburg newspaper; he used it then merely to signify body gesture as opposed to the spoken word. It
was not until 1929, ten plays and several productions he directed later, that Brecht began to use Gestus
and Gestik in the scene which made the concept one of the pillars of his paradigm for the new theatre,
‘Epic Theatre.’ Eventually, Gestus became to be understood by Brecht, as far as the actor is concerned
(there are other applications of the concept, but we are talking about the actor here), as the total process,
the ‘ensemble’ of all physical behaviour the actor displays when showing us a ‘character’ on stage by way
of his/her social interactions. It is an ensemble of the body and its movements and gestures, the face and
its mimetic expressions, the voice and its sounds and inflections, speech with its patterns and rhythms,
costume, makeup, props, and whatever else the actor employs to achieve the complete image of the role
he/she is performing. It was important to Brecht that such Gestus was memorable for an audience, and,
consequently quotable. Equally important was that Gestus defined a social position, the character’s status
and function in society, and that yielded an image of a socially conditioned behaviour that, in turn,
conditions the functioning of society.
Several performers were specifically cited by Brecht in the context of Gestus. One of these was Karl
Valentin, the popular Munich comedian, whose influence on the young Brecht has become almost
proverbial by now. Peter Lorre was among them, the Viennese actor Brecht hired for a small part in The
Threepenny Opera and, soon after, cast as Galy Gay in his own production of Man is Man. There was Carola
Neher, for whom he wrote Polly in Threepenny Opera, sister Lillian in Happy End and Joanna Dark in St Joan
of the Stockyards; or Helene Weigel, his second wife, who was his widow Begbick in Man is Man, the Fly in
Happy End, and Palegea Vlassova in The Mother. However, the one performer to whom Brecht devoted
several essays and whom he mentioned more frequently than any of his German protagonists before 1930
– the year his concept of Gestus had become, more or less, definitive – was the British/American silent
movie star Charlie Chaplin. His films The Face on the Barroom Floor and Gold Rush seemed to have
impressed Brecht more than any other movie during the 1920s except Eisenstein’s Potemkin.
Chaplin’s character, the little tramp, seems to have been the first complete achievement of Gestus that
Brecht observed. In 1926, he wrote about Chaplin: “This artist is a document that is effective with the
power of historical events.” As early as 1920, he had described the little tramp’s face: “Chaplin’s face is
always motionless as if it were made of wax. One single mimetic flicker rips it open, quite simply, with
power and with effort. A pale clown’s face with a thick moustache, the curls of an artist, the tricks of a
clown.” This sounds like a perfect illustration of Brecht’s later postulate that the actor’s face should be an
empty face written on by the body’s Gestus.
13
Post-Performance Discussion Questions
What significant themes are represented in Queensland Theatre Company’s production of The
Exception and The
The Rule?
Brecht often explores the themes/issues of capitalism and socialism in his plays. Discuss the
definitions of socialism and capitalism and identify how Brecht has represented these in The
Exception and The
The Rule?
After reading About the Playwright — Bertolt Brecht, discuss why he would explore capitalism and
socialism in his plays. Consider when he was born and his life experiences.
How is the issue of class represented in the play?
After reading the Director’s Insight by Joseph Mitchell page 8, how did he rework the play to make
it relevant for a contemporary audience? Describe scenes, the conventions used, characters and
the set and costume design to justify your answer.
How did you relate to the play? Consider characters, story and the interpretation of the play. Eg
did you relate more to the character of the Coolie or the Merchant?
After reading the Designers Insight by Helen Jacobs, and watching Queensland Theatre Company’s
production of The Exception and The
The Rule, what is your interpretation of the set and costume
design? How did it inform the dramatic meaning and action of the performance?
Websites of Interest
http://www.gnuware.com/dissertation/03%20-%20Chapter%201%20%20Brechts%20Learning%20Plays.html – About Brecht’s ‘Learning Plays.’
http://www.theatredatabase.com/20th_century/bertolt_brecht_001.html — a comprehensive,
chronological timeline of the events that occurred in Brecht’s lifetime and how they influenced his
theories, works, and ideologies
http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/drama/brecht.htm — a summary of Brecht’s dramatic theories
http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/drama/brecht.htm#dictionary — a glossary of words commonly seen
in articles about Brecht or Brecht’s works
http://www.usq.edu.au/PerformanceCentre/education/mothercourage/influences.htm — an overview of
Brecht’s political and artistic influences
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/The_Exception_and_the_Rule — Brief summary of The
Exception and The
The Rule and the political and social commentary present in the text
14
Script Excerpt One — The Exception and the Rule
THE PLAYERS:
We are about to tell you
The story of a journey. An exploiter
And two of the exploited are the travellers.
Examine carefully the behavior of these people:
Find it surprising though not unusual
Inexplicable though normal
Incomprehensible though it is the rule.
Consider even the most insignificant, seemingly simple
Action with distrust. Ask yourselves whether it is necessary
Especially if it is usual.
We ask you expressly to discover
That what happens all the time is not natural.
For to say that something is natural
In such times of bloody confusion
Of ordained disorder, of systematic arbitrariness
Of inhuman humanity is to
Regard it as unchangeable.
Part 1 - The Race through the Desert
A small expedition is hurrying through the desert.
MERCHANT:
to his two companions, the Guide and the Coolie who is carrying his baggage:
Hurry, you lazy mules, two days from now we must be at Han Station. That will
give us a whole day’s lead. To the audience: I am Karl Langmann, a merchant. I
am going to Urga to conclude arrangements for a concession. My competitors are
close behind me. The first comer will get the concession. Thanks to my
shrewdness, the energy with which I have overcome all manner of difficulties,
and my ruthless treatment of my employees, I have completed this much of the
journey in little more than half the usual time. Unfortunately my competitors
have been moving just as fast. He looks back
back through binoculars. See, there they
are at our heels again! To the Guide: Why don’t you drive the porter harder? I
hired you to drive him, but you people expect me to pay you to go for a stroll.
Have you any idea what this trip is costing me? It’s not your money. But if you
sabotage me, I’ll report you to the employment office in Urga.
GUIDE:
to the Coolie: Try to go faster.
MERCHANT:
There’s no guts in your voice, you’ll never be a real guide. I should have taken a
more expensive one. They keep gaining on us. Why don’t you beat the fellow? I
don’t approve of beating, but at the present time beating is necessary. If I don’t
get there first, I’ll be ruined. This Coolie you’ve taken is your brother, admit it!
He’s a relative, that’s why you don’t beat him. I know you people. You can be
brutal when you want to be. Beat him, or I’ll discharge you! You can sue for your
wages. Good God, they’re catching up with us!
COOLIE:
to the Guide: Beat me, but not with all your strength, because I’ll never get to
Han Station if I have to call on all my strength now.
The Guide beats the Coolie.
OTHER:
cries from the party behind: Ho There! Is this the way to Urga? Hey, we’re
friendly! Wait for us!
15
MERCHANT:
does not answer or look back: The devil take you! Forward! I’ll drive my men for
three days, two days with insults, the third day with promises. When we reach
Urga we’ll see. My competitors are still at my heels but tomorrow I’ll march all
night, that will lose them, and I’ll be in Han Station on the third day, one day
sooner than anyone else.
He sings:
Going without sleep gives me a comfortable lead
Driving my men adds that much to my speed
The weakling falls behind and the strong man wins out.
16
Script Excerpt Two – The Exception and the Rule
MERCHANT:
Why are you stopping?
COOLIE:
The road has stopped, sir.
MERCHANT:
Hm.
COOLIE:
If you hit me, sir, don’t hit my bad arm. I don’t know the way.
MERCHANT:
But the man at Han Station explained it to you.
COOLIE:
Yes, sir.
MERCHANT:
When I asked you if you understood him, you said yes.
COOLIE:
Yes, sir.
MERCHANT:
And you hadn’t understood?
COOLIE:
No, sir.
MERCHANT:
Then why did you say yes?
COOLIE:
I was afraid you’d send me away. All I know is that I should keep close to the
water-holes.
MERCHANT:
Then keep close to the water-holes.
COOLIE:
But I don’t know where they are.
MERCHANT:
Keep going! And don’t try to put anything over on me. I know you’ve come this
way before.
They go on.
COOLIE:
Wouldn’t it be better if we waited for the party behind us?
MERCHANT:
No.
They go on.
MERCHANT:
Where do you think you’re going? Now we’re heading north. East is over there.
The Coolie goes on to the east. Stop! What’s got into you? The Coolie stops but
doesn’t look at the Merchant. Why don’t you look me in the eye?
COOLIE
I thought this was the east.
MERCHANT:
Just wait, you bastard! I’ll teach you how to guide me. He beats him. Now do you
know which way is east?
COOLIE:
howling: Not on my arm.
MERCHANT:
Which way is east?
17
COOLIE:
That way.
MERCHANT:
And where are the water-holes?
COOLIE:
That way.
MERCHANT:
beside himself with rage: That way? But you were going that way.
COOLIE:
No, sir.
MERCHANT:
Oh, you weren’t going that way? Were you going that way? He
beats him.
COOLIE:
Yes, sir.
MERCHANT:
Where are the water-holes? The Coolie is silent. The Merchant, seemingly calm:
But you just said you know where the water-holes were. Do you know? The
Coolie is silent. The Merchant beats him. Do you know?
COOLIE:
Yes.
MERCHANT:
Beats him.
him Do you know?
COOLIE:
No.
MERCHANT:
Give me your water bottle. The Coolie does so. Now I could take the attitude that
all the water belongs to me, because you have guided me wrong. But I won’t: I’ll
share the water with you. Take your swallow, and then we’ll go on. To himself: I
forgot myself. I shouldn’t have beaten him in this situation.
They go on.
MERCHANT:
We’ve been here before. Look, our tracks.
COOLIE:
When we were here, we couldn’t have been very far off the route.
MERCHANT:
Pitch the tent. Our bottle is empty. There’s nothing in my bottle.
The Merchant sits down while the Coolie pitches the tent. The Merchant drinks
secretly from his bottle. To Himself: I mustn’t let him notice that I’ve still got
water. If he does and has a glimmer of sense in that skull of his, he’ll strike me
dead. If he comes near me, I’ll shoot. He draws his revolver and puts it in his lap.
If we could only get to the last water-hole! It’s as if I had a rope around my neck.
How long can a man hold out against thirst?
COOLIE:
I’ll have to hand over the bottle the guide gave me at the station. Because if they
find us and I’m still alive and he’s half dead, they’ll put me on trial.
He takes the bottle and goes toward the Merchant. The Merchant suddenly sees the Coolie standing in
front of him and doesn’t know whether or not the Coolie has seen him drinking. The Coolie has not seen
him drinking. The Coolie holds out the bottle in silence. But the Merchant, mistaking the bottle for a big
stone and thinking the Coolie is enraged and means to hit him with it, utters a loud cry.
MERCHANT:
Drop that stone! And when the Coolie, who does not understand,
understand, continues to
hold out the bottle, the Merchant shoots him dead. I was right! You beast! That’s
what you get.
18
Classroom Activities
FORMING
Compose a photograph with your students. Take the students through the elements of character status.
Begin with the class walking around the space exploring how their body changes when they are a
dominant character — Where does their head sit on their shoulders? How do their arms move? How do
their feet touch the ground? Are their shoulders sitting forwards or back? How do they look or interact
with others?
Then take the students through what it means physically to be a submissive character.
Once the students understand what it means to change their body to suit a status of a character, find a
volunteer to begin the photograph. Give the student a status and ask them to use the space in such a
way that expresses this status. They are to freeze in the position for the remaining time of the exercise.
Give another student a status and ask them to take the space in relation to the other character. You
could choose to make it a competition and see who can think laterally and become the most dominant
character or submissive character in the space.
Continue asking students to take on a status in relation to the space and the other characters and
examine what makes one character more dominant than another.
RESPONDING,
RESPONDING, FORMING AND PERFORMING
In pairs take on the role of either Coolie or Merchant. Read through excerpt one on page 15. The pair are to
present an improvised, interpretation of the scene using status. The teacher directs the students through
the improvised scene, asking students to change their status at poignant moments and continue the scene,
each character working off each others changed status. This activity will allow the students to explore how
status can affect the relationship between characters, the interpretation of the story and role.
RESPONDING AND PRESENTING
Ask the students to read through the script excerpts on pages 15 and 17 and interpret them using the
following conventions.
Silent Movie
Three actors take the stage. Two actors tell the story through silent action. They are to work together,
improvising the actions and ensuring they are offering ideas, as well as taking offers. The third actor
stands to the side and narrates the action, interpreting what the actors are presenting.
Game Show
Students present the excerpt/s as a game show. They can choose to include other characters other than
those in the excerpts to assist in telling the story, using the game show convention.
Reality TV
Ask students to relate the excerpt/s to their own lives, or create a ‘stereotypical’ scene of teenagers. They
are to consider who the Coolie and Merchant might represent in their lives, and present an interpretation
of the scene using these ‘real’ characters.
Radio
After listening to Orson Welles, War of the Worlds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUBisKB5l98&feature=related write and produce a radio play that is
of similar dramatic style and presents an interpretation of the script excerpt/s. Consider the context you
will use for the story.
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Suggested Assessment
FORMING AND PRESENTING
Using script excerpt two, page 17, students can devise a performance demonstrating a range of
conventions using Brechtian Theatre techniques and conventions. The students are to consider Brecht’s
Lehrstück plays. His ‘Learning Plays.’ They are to consider the idea of drawing the audience in as a means
of instruction, while also ensuring that they are reminded that what happens on the stage is artificial. They
are to interpret the script and arrange the performance in such a way that makes political and social
comment, challenging their audience, as well as entertaining them. They can consider the exercises in
Classroom Activities as a guide to interpret the script and include conventions such as film and radio.
Students will firstly need to consider what Brecht was trying to achieve and say in the script excerpt. They
will need to research his approach to theatre, directing and writing to inform their vision for their
performance.
RESPONDING
Read the following Director’s Notes by Joseph Mitchell
NOTES FROM EARLY FEBRUARY 2009
John Willet describes the idea of Alienation in English as: “To make the strange familiar and the familiar
strange.” I kept thinking about this while re-reading the play and my own notes which identify that
Brecht’s plays were often distressing and challenging for his audiences.
So, for me to tell this story – I want to update Brecht’s uncanny ability to frustrate, surprise, enthrall and
occasionally disturb his audience. Traditional Brechtian ideas no longer do this because all the things he is
known for are common ground in the theatre today. So therefore – my key area of interest for this
production is that there are two contrasting identities for Brecht in the theatre today. Firstly – the more
known academic and education based Brecht which focuses on using ideas and techniques which have
been accepted over time as Brechtian (direct address, gesture, alienation etc) and secondly that the
theatre was not a movie theatre and that anything could happen – the live element of a production itself
would be the defining character of the experience.
I want to capture these two sides of Brecht in our production.
LATE FEBRUARY 2009
General Structure
I’d like to consider staging the play as follows:
Using four actors in the following roles:
o Merchant
o Coolie
o Guide
o Judge and all other roles
Set Design
The design will be a school classroom. This plays on the ideas of the first part of the play being based in
Lehrstück (learning play) as well as the idea that we are doing an Education Performance. It plays on
instructional elements of the language as well as explores the nature of Brecht’s own personality as an
uncontrollable school boy.
We will use chalk boards and school desks to create a range of images required in the script such as a
bridge, a river, various rooms, tents camping grounds etc.
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This of course, will be subverted and ignored as the play goes on by the actors themselves, who will not be
instructed to play school students, but rather, concentrate on the roles of beings actors in a space with a
live audience.
After viewing Queensland Theatre Company’s production of The Exception and The
The Rule, reading the script
of The Exception and The
The Rule, reading Joseph Mitchell’s Director’s Insight, page 8 and Director’s Notes,
page 11 and 20, write a script analysis that focuses on the director’s point of view. Consider the set and
costume design, Mitchell’s interpretation of the text and what was included in the script, outside of the
original text. Identify and discuss Brecht’s reasons for writing The Exception and The Rule and his
approach to theatre.
You are to analyse, evaluate and synthesise how the dramatic language and action was approached and
interpreted for a contemporary youth audience.
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Set Model Box
Front Elevation
Plan View
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