translated by Eva Geiser and Ernest Borneman
As a young university student in Munich, Bertolt Brecht was only a few years away from early success as a playwright when he wrote five one-acts. Of these plays, only one was performed in his lifetime, and none were published until after his death. They provide a retrospective look at Brecht before his evolution into the founder of epic theatre, demonstrating some of the tendencies that would mark his later work.
Lux in Tenebris is a short farce about a moralist who campaigns for the closing of brothels. It demonstrates the influence of the great clown Karl Valentin, who would later become Brecht’s friend and collaborator.