CHANGING THE WHEEL
THEMES AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
Why did Peter create this show? A longstanding identification with and love of the poetry certainly; but it was not until he started work on the project that the complexities began to emerge. Brecht was a notorious seducer (he would have said: 'had no time for bourgeoise morality') and as an adoptee Peter had only found out his natural mother's name, not made contact. He did however know she was, as a young woman, an actor. That was fascinating. The more Peter investigated the far eastern connection in Brecht's work the more weight it seemed to carry; that was fascinating too.
Peter is a lifelong socialist who had been an active Labour Party politician as a Councillor in Newcastle upon Tyne for 20 years. Leaving office in 2004 he had become sceptical about Labour's politics. Then lo and behold, in the 2 months leading up to the show's premiere, capitalism stumbled into its worst crisis since the days Brecht was maturing as a poet. Brecht is critical of capitalism in his modern world, but I did not expect a worldwide financial crisis to develop as this show came to fruition. It does illustrate the longevity of the critiques of capitalism. Even modern international world markets can sleepwalk into crises. 'Black Mass' by John Gray and 'The Shock Doctrine' by Naomi Klein, have been useful in understanding this; and get quoted.
CHANGING THE WHEEL deals with a number of inter-related themes, all of which are either directly or implicitly explored in Brecht's poetry: Identity, sexuality, Brecht's theatrical theories, the aesthetics and principles of socialism and taoism, the dangers of fascism and totalitarianism, the loss of idealism, the parallels of today's politics with those of the past, the current economic uncertainty, the importance of questions and of doubt, war as a disaster, hope for the future despite negative evidence.
By layering the text between the poems with a straightforward story of Brecht's life and times, some aspects of Peter's life, his recent search for his natural mother, and incorporating comments and observations on contemporary events; CHANGING THE WHEEL looks both backward at the last century and forward at the new one.
What is remarkable about Brecht's work is how it seems to pre-figure later ideas and developments. The show's introductory poem, The Moment Before Impact, for example, contains a final couplet that is as good an explanation of post-modernism as you can get in 2 lines; even though it was written in 1938. (I know we are not feeling the same thing / And we are not feeling it at the same time)
The show suggests that 2 major philosophies – Marxism and Taoism – had a major influence on his life and work. In one sense this is an over-simplification, but in another it opens up a fascinating insight into his work and character. Brecht is well known as a commentator on marxist and socialist aesthetics; his rich knowledge of far eastern literary, theatrical and philosophical cultures, not just taoism, is less well known. (For scrupulous scholarly details on this knowledge see Antony Tatlow¹.) Today, with the rise of China's global power, some suggest it is the global power of the 21st Century, this understanding takes on a new, even visionary, importance.
But it is his acute observation of the everyday which, allied with his concern we should learn something from his efforts, creates poetry of simple power that links his world and ours.
The show opens ideas and questions on history, philosophy, economics, politics, theatre and literature; which can be explored through further study.
CHANGING THE WHEEL contains 35 poems by Brecht, 28 of which are spoken in full. Those which are significantly abridged are marked **; and those with minor cuts *. The poems appear in the following order:
The Moment Before Impact, The Third Psalm, Of The Seduced Girls**, Discovery About A Young Woman, Of Poor bb*, On Everyday Theatre**, Epitaph 1919, Questions From A Worker Who Reads, Solidarity Song**, The Playwright's Song*, When The Fascists Kept Getting Stronger, Solely Because Of The Increasing Disorder, When I was Rich*, Parade Of The Old New*, Why Should My Name Be Mentioned?, On A Chinese Tea Root Lion, The Doubter, On The Critical Attitude, The Burning Of The Books, When Evil Doing Comes Like Falling Rain, Travelling In A Comfortable Car, Is The People Infallible?, Motto, Spring 1938**, 1940 – VI/VII/VIII, After The Death Of My Collaborator MS, Hollywood Elegy 1, Everything Changes, Swansong, The Solution, Changing The Wheel, The Mask Of Evil, Things Change, And I Always Thought, When In My White Room At The Charitė.
¹ The Mask of Evil – Brecht's Response to the Poetry, Theatre and Thought of China and Japan. A Comparative and Critical Evaluation. European University Papers. Verlag Peter Lang, Bern 1977.
Also see: Repression and Figuration - From Totem to Utopia. Department of Comparative Literature, University of Hong Kong. Cultural Studies Working Paper Nr.1 1990. Shakespeare,Brecht, and the Intercultural Sign. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001
All by Antony Tatlow. Professor of Comparative Literature, Trinity College, Dublin.