Eighteenth-century Brechtians ― Theatrical Satire in the Age of Walpole

Eighteenth-Century Brechtians looks at stage satires by John Gay, Henry Fielding, George Farquhar, Charlotte Charke, David Garrick and their contemporaries through the lens of Brecht’s theory and practice. Discussing the actor mutiny of 1733, theater censorship, controversial plays and Fielding’s forgery of an actor’s autobiography, Joel Schechter contends that some subversive Augustan and Georgian artists were in fact early Brechtians. He also reconstructs lost episodes in theater history including Fielding’s last days as a stage satirist before his Little Haymarket theater was closed, Charlotte Charke’s performances as Macheath and Polly Peachum in The Beggar’s Opera, and the 1740 staging of Jonathan Swift’s Polite Conversation on a double bill with Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor. Taken together, the book offers an unconventional new reading of theater history, Brecht’s tradition, and stage satire.

Joel Schechter is professor of theater arts at San Francisco State University. He is the author of Messiahs of 1933: How American Yiddish Theatre Survived Adversity through Satire.