"Living for Brecht" by Ruth Berlau (Page 195)

Page 195: "Sometimes one can hear Brecht give a sudden laugh-even when the scene is being rehearsed for the first time-for he has observed that the actor is offering something new and interesting, even if nothing more that a silent walk across the stage. This laugh means too much to the actor. From then on his colleagues will say: Now for the walk, or the gesture, or the look."

"Living for Brecht" by Ruth Berlau (Page 192-193)

Page 192-193: "I could say that in rehearsal Brecht begins by "alienating" his own play. He appears to be familiar with no single word of his text, and with each rereading he discovers it anew. (...) Certainly he has no wish to stick obstinately to what is written on the page; what he wants is to see and hear what actors using the text can show him. When a sentence or even a whole scene has been thoroughly examined in this way, it can come as no surprise to learn that up to the very last rehearsal. Brecht is always making changes in is plays. He conducts rehearsals in sections, initially treating each matter entirely for its own sake. Someone knowing the play as a whole might the say to him, "The third scene explains what has already been indicated in the first scene. So how can the actor throw away his line in the first scene so lightly?" Brecht will listen, then laugh and replay, "Is that so? That's good. Well, we shall see." It might really become necessary to make changes in the first scene while we are already working on the third, but now we know why. In this way, rehearsals remain constantly productive. Nothing is ever glossed over; everything is checked and rechecked again and again."

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