Baal

de Bertolt Brecht

The classic wandering-poet archetype of the Expressionist movement receives a dark makeover in Bertolt Brecht's 'Baal'. Brecht's first full-length play portrays the seductions and manipulations of a dissolute poet with an inexplicable appeal to women. Baal descends from a civilised dining room to a hut in the woods, leaving a path of destruction in his wake. First performed in Leipzig in 1923, 'Baal' represents an early, almost pre-political stage in Brecht's career, and shows the playwright experimenting with elements that would become his trademarks, such as the use of song. Even as a young writer, however, Brecht provoked controversy: 'Baal' was immediately shut down by order of the city council of Leipzig.