Fear and Misery of the Third Reich

“From a distance, it is easier to see the mistakes people make when populism, propaganda and poverty run rampant, and repression sows fear. Then let us take a look—as Brecht puts it—at exactly how a people become manipulable, how totalitarianism is born, and how each individual in the community contributes to it through their choices. And it does not matter whether we are talking about the 1930s or the 21st century. Looking back across a century, it would indeed be laughable if the consequences were not so tragic,” says director Indra Roga.

A “golden classic” of theatre history. Bertolt Brecht, a German playwright and exponent of epic theatre, wrote the play *Fear and Misery of the Third Reich* (*Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches*) between 1935 and 1938, while in exile in Denmark. He wrote it close on the heels of the events of the time, while working in radio and writing for newspapers. “A breathtaking mosaic of life in Nazi Germany” (Michael Billington, *The Guardian*) remains a prescient mirror—wherever people let fear in and lose their inner freedom.