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Tackling Brecht’s masterpiece ‘The Decision’

Known for his major contributions to theatre in the twentieth century, Bertolt Brecht wrote with his distinct political aims and convictions in mind. His commitment to Marxism is evident in a large handful of his works, and Die Maßnahme (‘The Decision’) provides us with a solid example of Brecht’s political theatre.

Four communist Agitators appear in front of their party in Moscow, reporting the death of a comrade that they themselves have shot. Over the course of eight scenes, the four Agitators attempt to justify their decision to shoot their Young Comrade on the basis that his behaviour both endangered them, and jeopardized their attempts to spread communist propaganda amongst workers in China.

We plunge into the action straight away, with the death of the Young Comrade being reported at the outset. This develops into a rapidly-progressing plot which jumps from episode to episode; from here we observe an account of the events that lead to the death of the Young Comrade, acted out and explained by the four Agitators. This pace however causes no issues – Die Maßnahme is written in a lucid, explicit style that ensures our understanding of the events portrayed.

The episodic structure of Die Maßnahme could be seen, however, as resulting in a somewhat disjointed plot. Instead of flowing into one another, scenes are snapshots of the Agitators’ experiences. This eradicates any sense of continuity; the plot is contained in chunks rather than in scenes that flow into one another. On the other hand, this technique of Brecht’s ensures that we focus intensely on each scene as we read it, further contributing to the clarity of the events in Die Maßnahme.

Perhaps the most appealing feature of this work is its wealth of rich themes and ideas, all of which provoke the reader to consider these central elements of the play. Can the Agitators’ actions be justified? Should the Young Comrade have obeyed party orders, or was he correct to conduct himself according to his raw emotions? It is such questions that Brecht brings to the surface through the politically-charged plot of Die Maßnahme, one of his Lehrstücke (‘teaching plays’), which aims to push readers to seriously assess their attitudes to what they have read.

On the whole, Brecht’s Die Maßnahme is a gripping, thought-provoking work. Its clear writing style, albeit not entirely fluid, ensures that the reader is explicitly presented with the key ideas found in the text. The experience of reading Die Maßnahme does not simply stop after the last line – the controversy portrayed in the plot stays with each reader after the shut of the book. The portrayal of difficult yet engaging ideas in Die Maßnahme makes it a must-read for any fan of political theatre.

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