Art by Steph Reed
BRECHTFEST OF CHAMPIONS
Preview by Paul Oswell, talking to David Symons
If you've heard someone belting out the old classic sing 'Mack the Knife' at karaoke, then you're already familiar with at least one of the songs composed by Kurt Weill in collaboration with the writer and dramatist Bertolt Brecht. This collaboration started the 1920s, the most famous of their works probably being The Threepenny Opera, first performed in 1928. It's a kind of proto-Marxist, anti- capitalist work set in a Victorian underworld of crooks, seediness and violence. If you agree that those elements are worthy of a New Orleans arts festival, then we're happy to introduce you to BrechtFest VI.
BrechtFest was started in 2019 by accordionist and composer David C. Symons, and pianist/composer/puppeteer Harry Mayronne. Roughly coinciding with Brecht’s birthday of February 10th, it features a large cast of New Orleans singers, actors, and poets, accompanied by a seven-piece chamber orchestra.
Each year features new arrangements of the music of Brecht collaborators such as Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler, as well as original musical settings of Brecht’s poetry, sung by an ever changing cast of local performers. Brecht’s poetry and songs would place him among the greats of modern literature had he never written a single play. Every year, the cast of BrechtFest brings this work to life in a small theater in what Symons calls "the sordid underbelly of New Orleans - St. Claude Avenue".
"BrechtFest came about from meeting Harry Mayronne and finding that we have a shared fascination with the works of Brecht, Weill, Eisler and, more generally, the art and culture of the Germany during the Weimar Republic," says Symons. "It was this time when the old institutions and traditions that had organized society for generations lay in ruins, as they had failed to prevent the unbelievable, unprecedented horrors of the Great War. It was time when every kind of freedom - artistic, sexual, revolutionary - briefly flourished.
This was all raw material for Brecht. "He was very much a man of his time, but in many ways is man of our time as well," says Symons. "I wish it was otherwise, but so much of what he wrote could have been written yesterday. Nearly all these problems are still with us, though they are now compounded by problems he couldn't have foreseen, like ecological collapse. What makes all of this palatable as art is both the beauty and clarity of the writing, combined with occasional humor, and the incredible music of Brecht's two great collaborators, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler." Symons adds that the Fest also features original music composed to Brecht lyrics by Mayronne, David Buchbinder, and himself.
The Fest was founded in January 2019. Symons called Mayronne and said "Hey, Brecht's birthday is in a few weeks, do you want to do something?" According to Symons, "We booked a night at Allways, decided to make it a benefit for Innocence Project New Orleans, invited some friends to sing songs and read poems, and hoped people would come. The band was my band at the time, The Salt Wives. To our surprise, the show sold out, and the audience seemed genuinely affected by these old songs."
Brecht's granddaughter was in the audience. "I hadn't met her or known that she lives here until after the show," says Symons. "She probably went expecting not to like it, and actually liked it very much. She's since become a dear friend and has allowed me to put her in the show, reading her grandfather's poetry. She's a marvelous painter, and this year donated a painting to auction off, along with a number of other great artists who have donated work.
The show continues to sell out, and a couple of years it was expanded to two nights. "People tell me we should move to a bigger venue, but I love the intimacy of Allways," says Symons. "It's immersive. I want the audience to smell the music. It's a different show every year, with a core company but always a few new faces. I spend about two months every year working on something that fewer than 150 people will see, but that's kind of the beauty of it."
BrechtFest VI takes place at The AllWays Lounge on February 10th and 11th, and is a fundraiser for Innocence Project New Orleans, who raise funds for legal aid to work to free those who are wrongfully convicted or unjustly punished. Click here for information.
Preview by Paul Oswell, talking to David Symons
If you've heard someone belting out the old classic sing 'Mack the Knife' at karaoke, then you're already familiar with at least one of the songs composed by Kurt Weill in collaboration with the writer and dramatist Bertolt Brecht. This collaboration started the 1920s, the most famous of their works probably being The Threepenny Opera, first performed in 1928. It's a kind of proto-Marxist, anti- capitalist work set in a Victorian underworld of crooks, seediness and violence. If you agree that those elements are worthy of a New Orleans arts festival, then we're happy to introduce you to BrechtFest VI.
BrechtFest was started in 2019 by accordionist and composer David C. Symons, and pianist/composer/puppeteer Harry Mayronne. Roughly coinciding with Brecht’s birthday of February 10th, it features a large cast of New Orleans singers, actors, and poets, accompanied by a seven-piece chamber orchestra.
Each year features new arrangements of the music of Brecht collaborators such as Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler, as well as original musical settings of Brecht’s poetry, sung by an ever changing cast of local performers. Brecht’s poetry and songs would place him among the greats of modern literature had he never written a single play. Every year, the cast of BrechtFest brings this work to life in a small theater in what Symons calls "the sordid underbelly of New Orleans - St. Claude Avenue".
"BrechtFest came about from meeting Harry Mayronne and finding that we have a shared fascination with the works of Brecht, Weill, Eisler and, more generally, the art and culture of the Germany during the Weimar Republic," says Symons. "It was this time when the old institutions and traditions that had organized society for generations lay in ruins, as they had failed to prevent the unbelievable, unprecedented horrors of the Great War. It was time when every kind of freedom - artistic, sexual, revolutionary - briefly flourished.
This was all raw material for Brecht. "He was very much a man of his time, but in many ways is man of our time as well," says Symons. "I wish it was otherwise, but so much of what he wrote could have been written yesterday. Nearly all these problems are still with us, though they are now compounded by problems he couldn't have foreseen, like ecological collapse. What makes all of this palatable as art is both the beauty and clarity of the writing, combined with occasional humor, and the incredible music of Brecht's two great collaborators, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler." Symons adds that the Fest also features original music composed to Brecht lyrics by Mayronne, David Buchbinder, and himself.
The Fest was founded in January 2019. Symons called Mayronne and said "Hey, Brecht's birthday is in a few weeks, do you want to do something?" According to Symons, "We booked a night at Allways, decided to make it a benefit for Innocence Project New Orleans, invited some friends to sing songs and read poems, and hoped people would come. The band was my band at the time, The Salt Wives. To our surprise, the show sold out, and the audience seemed genuinely affected by these old songs."
Brecht's granddaughter was in the audience. "I hadn't met her or known that she lives here until after the show," says Symons. "She probably went expecting not to like it, and actually liked it very much. She's since become a dear friend and has allowed me to put her in the show, reading her grandfather's poetry. She's a marvelous painter, and this year donated a painting to auction off, along with a number of other great artists who have donated work.
The show continues to sell out, and a couple of years it was expanded to two nights. "People tell me we should move to a bigger venue, but I love the intimacy of Allways," says Symons. "It's immersive. I want the audience to smell the music. It's a different show every year, with a core company but always a few new faces. I spend about two months every year working on something that fewer than 150 people will see, but that's kind of the beauty of it."
BrechtFest VI takes place at The AllWays Lounge on February 10th and 11th, and is a fundraiser for Innocence Project New Orleans, who raise funds for legal aid to work to free those who are wrongfully convicted or unjustly punished. Click here for information.
