By Melonie Magruder
Lookout Staff

October 9, 2011 -- From 1941 to 1947, the seminal German playwright and director Bertolt Brecht resided in Santa Monica, where he wrote, among other works, his celebrated “The Caucasian Chalk Circle.” Later this month, Santa Monica Repertory Theatre will honor Brecht’s genius along with their one-year anniversary of residency.

The Santa Monica Rep’s 2011 Gala and Fundraiser will be held November 20 at Brecht’s home and, as with all of SMR’s activities, the public is invited to attend costumed, engaged and ready for new theatrical adventure.

“I don’t know what I was thinking of, starting a theatre company,” said a harried executive director and co-founder of the company, Eric Bloom. “But the gala will be something different and fun and get us ready to go into full production early next year.”

SMR’s debut production last summer, “The Tempest,” set a creative and
venturesome tone for the new company. With their gala, the group promises an entertaining party inspired by the theatrical brilliance of the playwright who fled rising fascism in Weimar Germany only to wait eight years to secure a visa for the U.S.

Accordingly, guests are invited to dress the 1940s noir, Chandler-esque style (seamed stockings welcome!). The troupe will perform one of Brecht’s short one-acts, “The Informer” (written in 1938) and outline upcoming events while guests enjoy a silent auction, a raffle and hors d’oeuvres provided by sponsors like Tesori Wine, Bob’s Market, Napa Valley Grill and Cheesecake Heaven.

“It’s sort of half performance, half salon in this great vintage home,” Bloom said. “It’s the city’s first architectural landmark dedicated to a cultural figure and, well, inspiring. Did we feel his vibe? Well, either it was his energy there or us being theatrical.”

Brecht, famous for writing “The Threepenny Opera” (a staple of every high school theatre group in the country) with collaborator Kurt Weill, was vehemently anti-Fascist and wrote many of his plays to highlight the danger of the National Socialist Movement. “Mother Courage and her Children,” “The Good Person of Szechwan” and “Life of Galileo” all were written during the war years.

Brecht came to California hoping to work in the movies, collaborating with director – and fellow refugee from Nazi Germany - Fritz Lang to make “Hangmen Also Die!”

But Brecht ended his tenure in America ironically. After the war, he, along with some four dozen other Hollywood writers and directors came under the scrutiny of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee, which effectively blacklisted him with the studio bosses.

Called before the committee in the fall of 1947, Brecht testified that he had never been a member of the Communist Party, spurring calls of betrayal from other Hollywood witnesses called to “name names.” The day after his testimony before HUAC, Brecht left the country, never to return.

“Brecht pretty much found himself staring fascism in the face again here in America,” Bloom said.

With such theatrical inspiration, Bloom is looking to launch next season with community support (the title of the spring production will be announced at the gala).

Like any community theatre group, SMR relies on the contributions and personal involvement of locals to succeed. Their last production was financed with city sponsorship, local input and innovative fundraising techniques, like the online funding platform IndieGoGo, which allows interested parties around the world a limited window of time to contribute small (or large) amounts to production costs.

“We’re hoping the gala will bring us the means to get started with our spring production,” Bloom said. “But it will also give us another chance to outline our vision of the company, which is all about involving our local community. This will be really fun, too.”

Santa Monica Rep’s 2011 Gala and Fundraiser takes place Sunday, November 20, starting at 4:00 pm. The theme is 40’s noir and will be held at the Bertolt Brecht home at 1063 26th Street (street parking only). Tickets are $35 until November 14, then $45 afterwards. For more information, go to www.santamonicarep.org.