The Decision (play)
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''The Decision'' ('), frequently translated as ''The Measures Taken'', is a '' Lehrstück'' and
agitprop Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred to ...
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...
by the twentieth-century German
dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
. Created in collaboration with composer
Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...
and director
Slatan Dudow Slatan Theodor Dudow ( bg, Златан Дудов, Zlatan Dudov) (30 January 1903 - 12 July 1963) was a Bulgarian born film director and screenwriter who made a number of films during the Weimar Republic and in East Germany. Biography Dudow was ...
, it consists of eight sections in
prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...
and unrhymed,
free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French ''vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Definit ...
, with six major songs. A note to the text by all three collaborators describes it as an "attempt to use a
didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...
piece to make familiar an attitude of positive intervention."Willett (1959, 38–39).


Plot

Four agitators from Moscow return from a successful mission in China and are congratulated for their efforts by a central committee (called The Control Chorus.) The four agitators, however, inform the committee that during their mission they were forced to kill a young comrade for their mission to succeed. They ask for judgment from the committee on their actions. The committee withholds its verdict until after the four agitators re-enact the events that led to the young comrade's death. The four agitators tell of how they were sent on a mission to educate and help organize the workers in China. At a party house (the last before they reach the frontiers of China) they meet an enthusiastic young comrade, who offers to join them as their guide. The agitators must hide their identities because educating and organizing the workers in China is illegal. The director of the party house (the last before the frontier) helps the four agitators and the young comrade in the obliteration of their true identities. They all put on masks in order to appear as Chinese. They are told to keep concealed that they are
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
. Their mission must remain a secret. Should they be discovered, the authorities will attack the organization and the entire movement; not merely the lives of the four agitators and the young comrade will be put in danger. The agitators and the young comrade all agree to these conditions. However, once in China, the sights of injustice and oppression enrages the young comrade and he is not able to contain his passion, immediately acting to correct the wrongs he sees around him. He shows no discretion in teaching the oppressed how to help themselves and has no tact when dealing with small-time oppressors to help the greater good of the revolution. As a result, he eventually exposes himself and the four agitators by ripping off his mask and proclaiming the teachings of the party. When he does this, he puts the entire mission and movement in danger. He is identified, unmasked, just as riots break out and a revolutionary uprising among the workers is beginning. The authorities are now in pursuit of the young comrade and his friends. Still shouting out against the party, the young comrade is struck in the head by one of the agitators and they carry him as far away as they could, to the nearby lime pits. There, the agitators debate on what to do with him. If they help him to escape they will be unable to help the uprising, and escape is near impossible from their current position anyway. If he is left behind and caught, his mere identity will unwittingly betray the movement. The four agitators realize that "he must vanish, and vanish completely/ For we can neither take him with us nor leave him." To save the movement, they conclude that their only solution is for the young comrade to die and be thrown in the lime pits where he will be burned and become unrecognizable. They ask him for his consent to this. The young comrade agrees to his fate in the interest of revolutionizing the world and in the interest of communism. He asks the four agitators to help him with his death. They shoot him and throw his body into the lime pit. The central committee (The Control Chorus), to whom the four agitators have been telling their story, agree with their actions and reassures them that they have made the correct decision. "You've helped to disseminate / Marxism's teachings and the / ABC of Communism," they assure the four agitators. They also mark the sacrifice and cost that the wider success entailed: "At the same time your report shows how much / Is needed if our world is to be altered." ''Note: The "ABC of Communism" is a reference to the popular book by
Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин) ( – 15 March 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, Marxist philosopher and economist and prolific author on revolutionary theory. ...
.''


Translations

The most common translation for the title, ', in English is ''The Measures Taken.'' The only translation titled ''The Decision'' is by
John Willett John William Mills Willett, MBE (24 June 1917 – 20 August 2002) was a British translator and a scholar who is remembered for translating the work of Bertolt Brecht into English. Early life Willett was born in Hampstead and was educated ...
. The first known published English-language translation of ' is the inaccurate and libelous version of the cantata, titled ''The Rule r Doctrine'. This version of the text was made specifically for the House Un-American Activities Committee for use when interrogating both Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler. The text is derived from the Eisler score published by Universal Edition and was made by Elizabeth Hanunian on September 18, 1947. The full translation is available in the Thunder's Mouth Press/Nation Books book: ''Thirty Years of Treason'' (New York, 2002) edited by Eric Bentley. ote: First published by The Viking Press, Inc. in 1971. Eric Bentley himself made two published translations of ', both as ''The Measures Taken''. The two different translations corresponded to two different German versions of the text. The first appeared in the Bentley edited collection of plays ''The Modern Theatre'' volume 6 (New York, 1960.) The second was published in a Grove Press collection of Brecht plays ''The Jewish Wife and Other Short Plays'' (New York, 1967.) Bentley also made verse translations to be sung for selected pieces from ' as sheet music to directly correspond to the Eisler score in ''The Brecht-Eisler Songbook'', published by Oak Publications (New York, 1967.) Carl R. Mueller translated ' as ''The Measures Taken'' in the Brecht collection ''The Measures Taken and Other Lehrstücke'' edited by John Willett and Ralph Manheim, first published by Methuen (London, 1977) and later by Arcade Publishing (New York, 2001.) John Willett translated ' as ''The Decision'' specifically to fit the Eisler score. This translation was published by Methuen Drama in Brecht's ''Collected Plays: Three'' (London, 1998.)


Score

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...
's score for ' calls for a
tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
soloist, three speakers/actors, a mixed choir (
SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...
) and a small orchestra. The score involves choral pieces, speaking choir, recitatives and songs.


Production history

The cantata, ', was scheduled to be performed at the Neue Musik Festival in Berlin in the summer of 1930. Ewen, Frederic. 1967. ''Bertolt Brecht: His Life, His Art, And His Times''. The Citadel Press: New York. p. 251Esslin, Martin. 1995. Brecht: A Choice Of Evils (fourth edition, reprint.) Methuen Drama. p. 46 The festival directorate (consisting of
Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...
, Heinrich Burkard and Gerhard Schuenemann) asked Brecht to submit the text for inspection, concerned with its radically political subject matter. Brecht refused and suggested that Hindemith resign, protesting the implication of censorship. The piece was rejected by the festival directors citing the "artistic mediocrity of the text." Brecht and Eisler wrote an open letter to the festival directors. In it they propose an alternative venue for their new work. "We render these important activities wholly independent, and let them be managed by those for whom they are intended and who alone have use for them: the workers' choirs, amateur theater groups, school choirs and school orchestras – in short, the people who do not want to pay for art, who do not want to be paid for art, but who want to create art." ''Die Maßnahme'', thus, received its first theatrical production at the
Großes Schauspielhaus The Großes Schauspielhaus (Great Theater) was a theatre in Berlin, Germany, often described as an example of expressionist architecture, designed by Hans Poelzig for theatre impresario Max Reinhardt. The structure was originally a market built by ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
on the 10 December
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
. The performers who appeared as The Four Agitators in the premier were: A. M. Topitz (as the tenor soloist), Ernst Busch, Alexander Granach, and Helene Weigel (who took on the role of The Young Comrade.)Willett, John. 1977. ''The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht''. Methuen Drama. pp. 38–39 Karl Rankl conducted and the (Worker's choir of Greater Berlin) served as The Control Chorus.Brecht, Bertolt.1998. Collected Plays: Three. Methuen Drama. p. XIV–XV (Information taken from the Introduction by Editor/Translator John Willett.) The performance was directed by the Bulgarian filmmaker, Slatan Dudow. The play was also produced in Moscow around 1934. The opera was given its first post-war performance by a chamber orchestra – the Phoenix Ensemble and the Pro Musica Chorus, conducted by Robert Ziegler in the
Union Chapel, Islington Union Chapel is a working church, live entertainment venue and charity drop-in centre for the homeless in Islington, London, England. Built in the late 19th century in the Gothic revival style, the church is Grade I-listed. It is at the north ...
, London, on election night 1987. 39 critics attended the performance and wrote it up and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
requested that the entire opera be recorded and subsequently broadcast on Radio 3.
Heiner Müller Heiner Müller (; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German) dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are a significant contribution to postmodern drama and postdr ...
, a
postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
dramatist from the former
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
who ran Brecht's
Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langhoff ...
for a short time, used the ' style and storytelling of ''The Decision'' as a model when writing his plays ' (1970) and '' The Mission: Memory of a Revolution'' (1979). ''The Decision''/''The Measures Taken'' influenced South African playwright, Maishe Maponya, when writing his play, ''The Hungry Earth'', about labor and apartheid in 1978.


Brecht and his critics

Brecht wrote the play in 1930. Since then, some critics have seen the play as an apologia for
totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
and
mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...
while others have pointed out that it is a play about the tactics and techniques of clandestine agitation. They have also pointed out that it is thematically similar to his 1926 poem, "Verwisch die Spuren", ("Cover Your Tracks"), that his friend
Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mys ...
saw as "an instruction for the illegal agent."
Elisabeth Hauptmann Elisabeth Hauptmann (20 June 1897, Peckelsheim, Westphalia, German Empire – 20 April 1973, East Berlin) was a German writer who worked with fellow German playwright and director Bertolt Brecht. She got to know Brecht in 1922, the same year she ...
told controversial Brecht biographer John Fuegi that "she had written a substantial portion of it," but had forgotten to list herself as co-author.
Ruth Fischer Ruth Fischer (11 December 1895 – 13 March 1961) was an Austrian and German Communist, and a co-founder of the Austrian Communist Party (KPÖ) in 1918. Along with her partner Arkadi Maslow, she led the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) through b ...
, the sister of
Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...
, denounced Brecht, as "The minstrel of the G.P.U.". She also viewed the play as a foreshadowing of the
Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...
purges and was among its harshest critics. Katerina Clark wrote that the play "is a contender for being more Stalinist in this respect than Stalinist literature itself where writers deftly avoided explicit mention of the brutality of a purge." In his journals, Brecht, however, relates how he had rejected explicitly that interpretation, referring the accusers to a closer scrutiny of the actual text; " reject the interpretation that the subject is disciplinary murder by pointing out that it is a question of self-extinction", he writes, continuing: "I admit that the basis of my plays is
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
and state that plays, especially with an historical content, cannot be written intelligently in any other framework." The play was praised as inspirational by
Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the reputed author ...
, one of the leaders of German left-wing
terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
organization
Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...
. She frequently quoted one of the passages, that in her opinion served as justification for the acts of violence: It is a terrible thing to kill. But not only others would we kill, but ourselves too if need be Since only force can alter this Murderous world, as Every living creature knows.


Banning the play

Brecht and his family banned the play from public performance, but, in fact, the Soviet government did not like the play and other governments banned it as well. Performances resumed in 1997 with Klaus Emmerich's historically rigorous staging at the Berliner Ensemble.


US government


FBI

The
F.B.I. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
translated the play in the 1940s, and titled it ''The Disciplinary Measure''. The report described it as promoting "Communist World Revolution by violent means."


HUAC

Brecht appeared before the Committee on October 30, 1947. Only three members of the Committee and
Robert E. Stripling Robert E. Stripling (circa 1910–1991) was a 20th-century civil servant, best known as chief investigator of the United States House of Representatives, House Dies Committee and its successor the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), parti ...
, the committee's chief investigator were present. Brecht wanted no attorney, and unlike the previous ten witnesses, was charming, friendly and seemingly cooperative. The committee tried to trick him by reading some of his more revolutionary plays and poems, but he was able to dismiss those questions by saying they were bad translations. Some of his answers were cleverly evasive, such as when he was asked about
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
agent
Grigory Kheifets Grigory Markovich Kheifets, also known as Grigori Kheifetz (1899–1981), was a Soviet intelligence officer, a lieutenant colonel of the NKVD-MGB. He was one of the principals in Soviet nuclear espionage. From December 1941 until July 1944, he was ...
. At one point, he stated that he had never joined the
Communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
. Despite Brecht's extensive support for Communism, most authors agree that he really had not officially joined the party. Brecht was asked specific questions about ''The Decision''. He said it was an adaption of an old Japanese religious play. When asked if the play was about the murder of a Communist party member by his comrades "because it was in the best interest of the Communist party", he said that that was "not quite" right, pointing out that the member's death is voluntary, so it is basically an assisted suicide rather than a murder. He compared that to the tradition of
hara-kiri , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people d ...
in the Japanese play. The interrogators suggested that the title of the play (German ') could be translated as "The Disciplinary Measure".Bertolt Brecht before the Committee on Un-American Activities: An Historical Encounter, Presented by Eric Bentley (Record Label: Folkways Records. Originally released: 24 October 2006) During his testimony, Brecht objected to this title, and argued that a more correct translation of the title would have been "Steps to Be Taken". The committee went lightly on him despite frequently interrupting his answers. At the end, Committee chairman
J. Parnell Thomas John Parnell Thomas (January 16, 1895 – November 19, 1970) was a stockbroker and politician. He was elected to seven terms as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from New Jersey as a Republican Party (United States), Re ...
said, "Thank you very much. You are a good example ..." The next day, Brecht left the United States for good and returned to Europe, eventually taking up residence in
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
. Brecht was embarrassed by Parnell's compliment but said the committee was not as bad as the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
. The committee let him smoke. The Nazis would never have let him do this. Brecht smoked a cigar during the hearings. He told
Eric Bentley Eric Russell Bentley (September 14, 1916 – August 5, 2020) was a British-born American theater critic, playwright, singer, editor, and translator. In 1998, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the New ...
that this let him "manufacture pauses" between their questions and his answers. Examples of Brecht's testimony about ''The Decision'' include: Brecht: This play is the adaptation of an old religious Japanese play and is called Nō Play, and follows quite closely this old story which shows the devotion for an ideal until death. Stripling: What was that ideal, Mr Brecht? Brecht: The idea in the old play was a religious idea. This young people – Stripling: Did it have to do with the Communist Party? Brecht: Yes. Stripling: And discipline within the Communist Party? Brecht: Yes, yes, it is a new play, an adaptation. —"From the Testimony of Bertolt Brecht" The interrogators ask explicitly about the death of the young comrade: Stripling: Now, Mr Brecht, will you tell the committee whether or not one of the characters in this play was murdered by his comrade because it was in the best interest of the party, of the Communist Party; is that true? Brecht: No, it is not quite according to the story. Stripling: Because he would not bow to discipline he was murdered by his comrades, isn't that true? Brecht: No; it is not really in it. You will find when you read it carefully, like in the old Japanese play where other ideas were at stake, this young man who died was convinced that he had done damage to the mission he believed in and he agreed to that and he was about ready to die in order not to make greater such damage. So, he asks his comrades to help him, and all of them together help him to die. He jumps into an abyss and they lead him tenderly to that abyss, and that is the story. Chairman: I gather from your remarks, from your answer, that he was just killed, he was not murdered? Brecht: He wanted to die. Chairman: So they killed him? Brecht: No; they did not kill him – not in this story. He killed himself. They supported him, but of course they had told him it were better when he disappeared for him and them and the cause he also believed in. —"From the Testimony of Bertolt Brecht"


Similarly themed, contemporary works

Revolution in China was a theme soon taken up by other contemporary writers, including: *
Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...
, "You Have Seen the Heads," ''
New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. It succeeded both ''The Masses'' (1912–1917) and ''The Liberator''. ''New Masses'' was later merged into '' Masses & Mainstream'' (19 ...
'' (1931) *
André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by P ...
, ''La Condition humaine'' (1933), published as ''Man's Fate'' (1934)


References


Bibliography

* Brecht, Bertolt. 1993. ''Journals 1934–1955''. Trans. Hugh Rorrison. Ed.
John Willett John William Mills Willett, MBE (24 June 1917 – 20 August 2002) was a British translator and a scholar who is remembered for translating the work of Bertolt Brecht into English. Early life Willett was born in Hampstead and was educated ...
. Bertolt Brecht: Plays, Poetry, Prose Ser. London and New York: Routledge, 1996. . * ---. 1997. ''The Decision.'' In ''Collected Plays: Three.'' Ed. and trans. John Willett. Brecht Collected Plays Ser. London: Methuen. . pp. 61–91. * * Friedrich, Otto. 1995. ''Before the Deluge, A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s.'' HarperPrennial. . * Fuegi, John. 1987 ''Bertolt Brecht: Chaos, according to Plan''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Müller, Heiner. 1995. '' The Mission''. In ''Theatremachine.'' Ed. and trans. Marc von Henning. London and Boston: Faber. . pp. 59–84. * Müller, Heiner. 2001. ''Mauser''. In ''A Heiner Müller Reader: Plays , Poetry , Prose''. Ed. and trans. Carl Weber. PAJ Books Ser. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. . pp. 93–107. * Thomson, Peter. 1994. "Brecht's Lives". In Thomson and Sacks (1994, 22–39). * Thomson, Peter and Glendyr Sacks, eds. 1994. ''The Cambridge Companion to Brecht''. Cambridge Companions to Literature Ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . * Willett, John. 1959. ''The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht: A Study from Eight Aspects.'' London: Methuen. .


External links


BBC: ''The Decision'' – Burton Taylor Theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decision, The Plays by Bertolt Brecht Lehrstücke by Bertolt Brecht 1930 plays Compositions by Hanns Eisler