Director’s Versions of the ‘‘Threepenny Opera’’: on the Relevance of Bertolt Brecht’s Theory of Epic Theatre in the Theatre of the Twentieth Century

The article examines three versions of the stage reading of Bertolt Brecht’s ‘‘Threepenny Opera’’, namely the performance by E. Engel (Berlin, 1928), R. Wilson (Berlin, 2007), and R. Norris (London, 2016). The purpose of the research is to compare, through a comparative analysis, the performance at the Schiffbauerdam Theatre, in which B. Brecht was directly involved, and the directorial decisions on the stage of the Royal National Theatre and the Berliner Ensemble Theatre; to identify the limits of interpretive possibilities of the stage reading of the play ‘‘The Threepenny Opera’’, which for the first time realised B. Brecht’s work in the field of epic theatre theory. Research methodology. The methodology of theatre analysis, which is primarily based on cultural, historical and systemic approaches, theoretical analysis and synthesis methods, comparative studies and analogy, abstraction and concretisation, was used to achieve this goal. Scientific novelty. For the first time, an analysis of performances based on B. Brecht’s play ‘‘The Threepenny Opera’’ on the stage of the European theatre of the twenty-first century and the influence of his theory and practice on contemporary directorial art is traced. Conclusions. Based on B. Brecht’s requirements for the stage realisation of The Threepenny Opera and the leading positions of his theory of epic theatre, it is revealed that not all directorial attempts at free interpretation of B. Brecht’s play become a successful directorial experience, the discovery of new meanings and a full-fledged artistic phenomenon, on the one hand. On the other hand, taking into account the essential formative aspects of Brecht’s drama, even in the most daring directorial interpretations, which encourage the production of incredible means of stage expression, can create a new aesthetic reality and bring the essence of the play’s content closer to the twenty-first-century audience.