Rehearsing Failure
Directed by Lisa Channer
By Cory Hinkle
With Theatre Novi Most at the Southern Theatre, 2015
New play about Brecht and his collaborators in the year 1947 when they were living together in Malibu, CA.
Living in exile in Los Angeles after fleeing the Nazis, Brecht rehearses The Life of Galileo with his wife Helene Weigel and two of his former lovers, Elisabeth Hauptmann, a writer, and Ruth Berlau, a director. As they work on this epic history play over the summer of 1947, the themes of Galileo resonate with Brecht’s own life and the unique relationships he had with his collaborators. Rehearsing Failure focuses on Brecht’s ensemble, particularly the women who sacrificed their own recognition to create some of the most important theatre of the twentieth century. With original songs and an unconventional structure, Rehearsing Failure borrows from Brecht’s own playbook – it’s a play that reaches back into history to examine contemporary themes of politics, sex and complicity. By doing so, Rehearsing Failure asks the question: What do you need to survive, as an artist and a person, and what are you willing to sacrifice?
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Barbra Berlovitz, Pearce Bunting, Dan Dukich, Annie Enneking, Billy Mullaney, and Sara Richardson
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Set by Samantha Johns
Costumes by Cole Bylander
Lights by Heidi Eckwell
Composers Dan Dukich and Annie Enneking
Sound design by Dan Dukich
Stage Management by Jared Zeigler
Photos by Bill Prouty
In the Press
Rehearsing Failure looks at Brecht and the women around him by Sheila Regan, 6/20/13
Arts Hounds: Mpls. mystery and Granite Falls art Theatre Novi Most seeks success with ‘Rehearsing Failure’ by Chris Hewitt, 1/22/15
Theatre Novi Most gets Brechtian with Rehearsing Failure by Ed Huyck, 1/22/15
Rehearsing Failure’ shines a light on the women behind Bertolt Brecht by Jim Walsh, 1/23/15
Theatre Novi Most’s “Rehearsing Failure” at Southern Theater: Theater porn (in a good way) by Matthew Everett, 1/26/15
Rehearsing Failure Shines A New Light On Bertolt Brecht by Ed Huyck, 1/28/15
Lisa Channer and Annie Enneking speaking with Marya Morstad on KFAI’s Art Matters, 1/28/15
In Review: “Rehearsing Failure” by Todd O’Dowd, 1/31/15
Behind Every Good Man by Sophie Kerman, 1/29/15
