Berliner Ensemble

Berliner Ensemble

▪ German theatrical company
      theatrical company founded in 1949 by the German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht (Brecht, Bertolt) in East Berlin. The Berliner Ensemble originated as a branch of the Deutsches Theater, where Brecht had directed a production of his Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and Her Children) in January 1949. Originally designed as a touring company, the ensemble was composed primarily of younger members of the Deutsches Theater, with Helene Weigel, Brecht's wife, as its leading actress and codirector. The company devoted itself to works written or adapted by Brecht himself and worked in Brecht's style of epic theatre, which influenced directors throughout western Europe and the United States. In 1954 the Berliner Ensemble moved to its own theatre, the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, where it was established as an independent state theatre.

      Several tours through Europe, including two visits to Paris, with Mother Courage in 1954 and Der kaukasische Kreidekreis (The Caucasian Chalk Circle) in 1955, brought the Berliner Ensemble international fame and high critical esteem. After Brecht's death in 1956, Weigel carried on as the company's director until her death in 1971.

      During the 1970s the company persevered despite infighting amongst artistic directors who questioned the validity of Brechtian theatre. Ruth Berghaus succeeded Weigel as ensemble director in 1971; her experimental approach was not well received among company traditionalists, and she was replaced by Manfred Wekwerth in 1977. The company became a public corporation upon the reunification of Germany in 1990 and until 1992 was supported by government subsidies and managed by a team of renowned directors, among them Heiner Müller, who became sole manager and artistic director in 1992 and served in this position until his death in 1995. The company, by that time privately owned, though it continued to receive city subsidies, continued for another four years until it was officially dissolved on August 1, 1999. Reorganized in 2000, the company remained committed to political theatre, but perhaps as more broadly interpreted.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Berliner Ensemble — (Theater am Schiffbauerdamm) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Berliner Ensemble — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Directores del Berliner Ensemble 1949 1971: Helene Weigel. 1971 1977: Ruth Berghaus. 1977 1991: Manfred Wekwerth. 1993 1995: Heiner Müller. 1995 1996 M …   Wikipedia Español

  • BERLINER ENSEMBLE — Compagnie dramatique est allemande révélée à Paris au Théâtre des Nations en juin 1954 par une représentation de Mère Courage et ses enfants (Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder , 1938) de Brecht. Depuis lors, la leçon du Berliner Ensemble n’a cessé… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Berliner Ensemble —   [ ã sãbl], Abkürzung BE, Schauspieltheater, 1949 in Berlin auf Beschluss des Politbüros der SED von B. Brecht gegründet, danach offiziell von seiner Frau Helene Weigel (✝ 1971) geleitet; spielte zunächst als Gast im Deutschen Theater, seit 1954 …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Berliner Ensemble — Overview The Berliner Ensemble is a German theatre company established by playwright, Bertolt Brecht and his wife, Helene Weigel in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht s exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langhoff s… …   Wikipedia

  • Berliner Ensemble —    The company founded by and for Bertolt Brecht attained international renown in 1954 and 1955 for its prize winning productions at the Theater of the Nations festival in Paris; by the mid 1970s the company was moribund, essentially calcified in …   Historical dictionary of German Theatre

  • Berliner Ensemble — 52° 31′ 18″ N 13° 23′ 10″ E / 52.5217, 13.3861 Le Ber …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Berliner Ensemble — …   Википедия

  • Berliner, Ensemble — ► TEATRO Compañía teatral del este de Berlín, fundada en 1949 por Bertolt Brecht. La primera puesta en escena de la compañía fue Madre Coraje y sus hijos …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Berliner Ensemble — /bɜˌlɪnər ɒnˈsɒmbəl/ (say ber.linuhr on sombuhl) noun a theatre company founded in 1949 in East Berlin by Bertolt Brecht …  

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