Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer, Bertolt Brecht

Downfall of the egotist Johann Fatzer is a much-talked about but almost unknown work written by Brecht between 1926 and 1931, which he left incomplete, fragmented and open. There are more than 500 pages of dramatic and poetic material, comprising scenes, notes, choral parts, lyrical passages and philosophical texts. It is a treasure trove of ideas and forms that lends itself to adaptation, political interpretation and experimental staging.

Four German soldiers desert the Western Front during the First World War. The egotistical behaviour of one of them, Johann Fatzer, creates problems within the group. Hiding in the city of Mülheim, the deserters are undone by the irresponsibility of the ingenious individualist, resulting in the downfall of the small “collective”.

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