Brecht’s first play, Baal is rarely performed for two reasons. Firstly, it’s not very good. Secondly, it has a problem at the centre: the main character. Written when Brecht was just 20, Baal tells a story of a rebellious poet-musician who rejects the conventions of bourgeois society by choosing alcoholism and anarchy. Brecht was creating a new type of anti-hero - a character audiences would reject rather than sympathise with.

But it’s a hard balance to strike, and later in life the writer came to worry that in fact, he had made his leading man a little too attractive. Looking at the play today, Baal’s charisma presents a major provocation: a misogynist, sexual predator and violent criminal, how can we justify telling the story of a man like that?

Our response is to “cancel” Baal. He is a problematic character, so the only way to perform the play is to remove him.

BRECHT’S FIRST PLAY is a co-production of Hong Kong Arts Festival, Beijing Repertory Theatre and Tempest Productions. The production was supported by Culture Ireland. It premiered at Hong Kong Arts Festival on March 19th 2026.

Cast
JIN SHIJIA 金世佳
CUI WEI 崔玮
LI TENGFEI 李腾飞
MA ZHUOJUN 马卓君
ZHANG JIAHUAI 张加怀
TAN WEI 谭薇

Text by DEAD CENTRE and BERTOLT BRECHT
Translator & Dramaturg ZHAO HAN 赵晗

Stage Design HAN JIANG 韩江
Video Sebastien Dupuoey
Costume VIOLA ZHANG 大可
Light CHEN XIAJI 陈侠吉
Sound & Composition ANNIE JING YIN 安静

Fight Choreographer SHAO YAN 少言
Assistant Director ZHANG MINGYI 张铭益
Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Manager
Video Assistant
Sound Assistant
Production Assistant

Direction BUSH MOUKARZEL & BEN KIDD
Producers SHIWEI WANG

IMAGES