It is always interesting to see how writers modify their work and I offer you a brace of Bertolt Brecht to compare, contrast and discuss. Methuen Drama offers two versions of the German’s masterpiece Der gute Mensch von Sezuan, to which the dramatist made significant changes. The original, translated by John Willett, and titled The Good Person of Szechwan, was written in 1941, during Brecht’s wartime exile in Finland. Two years later, in California, he stripped down the play and created the ‘Santa Monica version’ which is published for the first time in this translation by David Harrower. Called The Good Soul of Szechwan, the play lends itself to study in how authors change and revise their work, as well as what makes successful theatre. The ‘Good Person’ edition (ISBN 978-1-4081-0007-3) includes an informative, extensive commentary that covers Brecht’s life and politics, as well as an overview of the play’s major themes. By contrast, the ‘Good Soul’ edition (ISBN 978-1-408-10965-6) offers a brief introduction to the history of the Santa Monica version.
The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust has won a National Lottery grant of £99,000 for a major London 2012 Cultural Olympiad digital art commission. The Trust will commission international artist Kurt Hentschläger to create a new digital artwork entitled CORE and will feature a sequence of windows going into a weightless world populated by groups of humanoid figures. Anna Brennand, Deputy Chief Executive at Ironbridge, said: ‘We believe that being part of the London 2012 Festival will help attract 60,000 new visitors to the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site.’ The commission, which was granted by Arts Council England, continues the Ironbridge tradition for innovation and creativity. For those not in the know, The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust was established in 1967 to preserve and interpret the remains of the Industrial Revolution in the six square miles of the Ironbridge Gorge, with its centrepiece at Coalbrookdale, the site of the world’s first cast iron bridge which was built in 1779. For more information visit www.ironbridge.org.uk.