Berlin-based director Jürgen Kuttner, theater specialist Helga Angarano, and students in the German Theater class will present a performance of Bertolt Brecht’s subversively funny short story “Die unwürdige Greisin” (“The Shameless Old Lady”). The performance will take place in German with explanations/subtitles in English. The event is free and open to the public, and students, staff, and friends are particularly welcome!
Play summary: When a widowed grandmother starts frequenting pubs, spending money on herself, and making new friends, her children are scandalized—and her grandchildren inspired. Written in exile in 1939, Brecht’s short piece, supposed by scholars to be his most autobiographical, is a provocative commentary on life and on living past one’s “usefulness.”
Organizer: Melissa Sheedy, melissa.sheedy@wisc.edu
Sponsored by German, Nordic, and Slavic+ and the Glen W. Gadberry German Theatre Fund