Fermat’s Last Theater Company
Presents
Singing in the Dark Times – The Many Trials of Bertolt Brecht
Cast
Brecht Isabel Karp
Ensemble members Greer Dubois & Maggie Schenk
Musicians:
Violin Diana Wheeler Cello Greer Dubois
Flute Maggie Schenk
Music adapted from Shostakovich Quartets 7, 8 & 11
Script by David Simmons & Greer Dubois Graphic design by Wendy Vardaman
Audio engineering by Nick Barovic-Hancock Photography by Hans Adler
Special thanks to members of the UW Department of German/Nordic/Slavic Languages:
Marc Silberman, Hans Adler, Sabine Gross and Nicole Fischer,
and historians Paul Buhle and Frank Emspak
To those born later
Truly I live in dark times
Frank speech is naïve.
A smooth forehead suggests insensitivity.
The man who laughs
Has simply not yet heard
The terrible news.
– Bertolt Brecht, 1939
And do not we also live in dark times? Over 65 million people in the world are refugees. Civil and ethnic strife, climate disasters and border clashes are the stuff of daily headlines. Fermat’s brings you this devised work – Brecht’s poetry, scenes from two of his plays, part of his testimony before HUAC – to show how an artist can find ways to speak the truth when the very idea of truth itself is under attack. We hope you will stay for the discussion after the performance and engage with us on finding ways forward.
This performance would not be possible without the support of many friends, donors, sponsors and supporters:
Dave Lathrop, Jennifer Riley, Dr James Wise, Hans Adler, Don Katz, Dr John Frey, Lee Sorenson, Dr Jay Gold, Sam & Kaye Cooke, Dr Frank Stein, Rita Mae Reese, Dr Cal Bruce, Marc Silberman, Caryl Farkas. Thanks also to: Dane Arts, Art + Lit Lab, Orange Tree Imports, Paul’s Books and Mystery to Me Bookstore.
A very special thank you to the Underground Food Collective
Photographs by Hans Adler
