Willett, John 1917-2002

Overview

Works:	344 works in 1,709 publications in 7 languages and 28,919 library holdings
Genres:	Drama Historical drama Biographies War drama Picaresque drama Diaries Librettos Criticism, interpretation, etc History Short stories
Roles:	Author, Editor, Translator, Other, Illustrator, Creator, Publishing director, Author of introduction, prs, Contributor, Honoree
Classifications:	PT2603.R397, 832.912

Publication Timeline

Most widely held works by John Willett

Brecht on theatre : the development of an aesthetic by Bertolt Brecht( Book )

109 editions published between 1964 and 2019 in 3 languages and held by 2,158 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"This selection from Brecht's notes and theoretical writing is meant to give English-language readers the main texts and set these in chronological order so as to show how his ideas evolved, gradually forming a quite personal aesthetic which applied to other spheres besides the theater. Too often the theory is treated as if it were a coherent whole which sprang from Brecht's head ready-made. The endless working and re-working which it underwent, the nagging at a particular notion until it could be fitted in, the progress from an embryo to an often very differently formulated final concept, the amendments and after-thoughts; all this is something that tends to be overlooked. The translation tries to convey the flavour to Brecht's style as it too evolved, from the aggressiveness of the first essays to the slightly forced formality of some of his late pronouncements."--Introduction

The theatre of Bertolt Brecht : a study from eight aspects by John Willett( Book )

131 editions published between 1947 and 2007 in 3 languages and held by 1,723 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

This study of Brecht's theatre from eight different aspects was first published in 1959. The book aims to explain the difficult aspects of his ideology and political leanings in a straightforward manner. It traces his stylistic development as a playwright and stage director through each of his major plays and explains his evolving notion of epic theatre within the political and social climate of the 1920s, Marxism, Nazism and post-war Communism

The Weimar years : a culture cut short by John Willett( Book )

53 editions published between 1984 and 2013 in 5 languages and held by 1,202 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Weimar Repbulic - German Expressionism - Fauvism - Cubism - Futurism - Dada - De Stijl - 'Mertz' movement_

Alpha by Kodi Smit-McPhee( Visual )

5 editions published in 2018 in English and held by 1,128 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

In the last Ice Age, while on a hunt with his tribe's most elite group, a young man is injured and left for dead. Awakening to find himself broken and alone, he must learn to survive and navigate the harsh and unforgiving wilderness. Reluctantly taming a lone wolf abandoned by its pack, the pair learns to rely on each other and become unlikely allies, enduring countless dangers and overwhelming odds in order to find their way home before the deadly winter arrives

Poems, 1913-1956 by Bertolt Brecht( Book )

36 editions published between 1976 and 2000 in English and Undetermined and held by 1,105 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Art and politics in the Weimar period : the new sobriety, 1917-1933 by John Willett( Book )

23 editions published between 1978 and 1996 in English and German and held by 1,036 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"The period between the end of World War I and Hitler's accession to power witnessed an unprecedented cultural explosion that embraced the whole of Europe but was, above all, centered in Germany. John Willett here provides a brilliant explanation of the aesthetic and political currents which made Germany the focal point of a new, down-to-earth, socially committed cultural movement that drew a significant measure of inspiration from revolutionary Russia and left-wing social thought, American technology, and the devastating experience of war."--Back cover

Expressionism by John Willett( Book )

33 editions published between 1970 and 1978 in 4 languages and held by 1,002 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Collected plays by Bertolt Brecht( Book )

5 editions published in 1971 in English and held by 958 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"The German text used throughout, unless otherwise stated, is that of the Gesammelte Werke ... edited by Elisabeth Hauptmann ... published by Suhrkamp-Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main in 1967"

Brecht in context : comparative approaches by John Willett( Book )

33 editions published between 1983 and 2016 in 3 languages and held by 900 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

This is a revised edition of John Willett's classic study, published for the centenary of Berthold Brecht's birth. Willett sets in context not only Brecht the theatre practitioner, but also Brecht the writer and man of his time

The good person of Szechwan by Bertolt Brecht( Book )

42 editions published between 1965 and 2016 in English and German and held by 814 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"The Good Person of Szechwan is one of Bertolt Brecht’s most popular works. When three gods come to earth in search of a thoroughly good person, they encounter Shen Teh, a goodhearted but penniless prostitute, who offers them shelter. Rewarded with enough money to open a tobacco shop, 'Angel of the Slums' Shen Teh soon becomes so overwhelmed by the demands of people seeking assistance that she invents a male alter ego, 'Tobacco K ing' Shui Ta, to deal ruthlessly with the business of living in an evil world. The Good Person of Szechwan is a masterpiece of minimalist design and elegance that shines a light on human nature and social mores."--Publisher's description

Diaries 1920-1922 by Bertolt Brecht( Book )

6 editions published between 1979 and 1987 in English and held by 810 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The theatre of Erwin Piscator by John Willett( Book )

28 editions published between 1978 and 1986 in 3 languages and held by 806 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Short stories, 1921-1946 by Bertolt Brecht( Book )

7 editions published between 1982 and 1999 in English and held by 762 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Galileo by Bertolt Brecht( Book )

45 editions published between 1980 and 2015 in English and German and held by 733 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"Life of Galileo (German : Leben des Galilei), also known as Galileo, is a play by the twentieth-century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. The first version of the play was written between 1937 and 1939; the second (or 'American') version was written between 1945-1947, in collaboration with Charles Laughton. The play received its first theatrical production at the Zurich Schauspielhaus, opening on 9 September 1943. This production was directed by Leonard Steckel, with set-design by Teo Otto. The cast included Steckel himself (as Galileo), Karl Paryla and Wolfgang Langhoff. The second version opened at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles on 30 July 1947. This was directed by Joseph Losey and Brecht, with set-design by Robert Davison. Laughton played Galileo, with Hugo Haas as Barberini and Frances Heflin as Virginia. This production opened at the Maxine Elliott's Theatre in New York on 7 December of the same year. A third production, by the Berliner Ensemble with Ernst Busch in the title role, opened in January 1957 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm and was directed by Erich Engel, with set-design by Caspar Neher. The play was first published in 1940"--Www.ulike.net (Nov. 8, 2010)

Mother Courage and her children : a chronicle of the Thirty Years' War by Bertolt Brecht( Book )

45 editions published between 1980 and 2016 in English and German and held by 663 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Chronicles Mother Courage as she trails the armies back and forth across Europe selling provisions and liquor from her canteen wagon during the Thirty Years War

Bertolt Brecht journals by Bertolt Brecht( Book )

9 editions published between 1993 and 2016 in English and held by 661 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

From Scandinavia across Russia to Hollywood, then on, via Switzerland and a flirtation with Salzburg, back to his own disappointing country, Brecht makes shrewd if sometimes harsh judgements on the people he meets. Some people included are: Thomas Mann, the Frankfurt philosophers, Schonberg, Isherwood, D'Annunzio, Ezra Pound, Wordsworth, Margaret Steffin, and more

The threepenny opera by Kurt Weill( Book )

18 editions published between 1928 and 2015 in English and held by 652 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

"Brutal, scandalous, perverted, yet humorous, hummable, and with a happy ending- Bertolt Brecht's revolutionary masterpiece The Threepenny Opera is a landmark of modern drama that has become embedded in the Western cultural imagination. Through the love story of Polly Peachum and "Mack the Knife" Macheath, the play satirizes the bourgeois of the Weimar Republic, revealing a society at the height of decadence and on the verge of chaos. Complemented with music by Kurt Weill, it was one of the earliest and most successful attempts to introduce jazz into the theater, and the song "Mack the Knife" became one of the most popular and widely recorded songs of the twentieth century."--Book cover

Caspar Neher, Brecht's designer by John Willett( Book )

16 editions published in 1986 in 3 languages and held by 641 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The theatre of the Weimar Republic by John Willett( Book )

10 editions published between 1986 and 1988 in English and held by 573 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Letters by Bertolt Brecht( Book )

10 editions published in 1990 in English and Undetermined and held by 468 WorldCat member libraries worldwide