Baal

First screened on the BBC in the early eighties and then almost instantly forgotten and hidden away, we are pleased to bring you this rare chance to see Alan Clarke’s bracing adaptation of an early (and uncharacteristic) play by Bertolt Brecht.

Making imaginative use of studio sets and split screen, it’s the story of a drifter poet (played by David Bowie) on a course of self-preservation through the destruction of others – including Zoe Wanamaker as his mistress. A number of Brecht’s songs are performed by Bowie to camera, who later recorded them for an EP. Mildly interesting fact: this is the third of Alan Clarke’s television films to screen at Flatpack, after Penda’s Fen and Christine.

Baal will be introduced by Professor Ronald Speirs, Emeritus Professor of German Studies at the University of Birmingham

Part of the REP’s Epic Encounters season. See also Eisler Shorts.

*Recommended