The Elephant Calf
Encyclopedia
The Elephant Calf also known as The Baby Elephant, is an early one-act surrealistic
prose
farce
written by the German modernist
playwright Bertolt Brecht
. It originally formed the penultimate scene of Brecht's full-length play Man Equals Man
, but by 1926 Brecht had separated it to an appendix to the published text. It was performed as part of Man Equals Man
that same year. It is an interlude
form of play within a play and in a later note Brecht suggests that it is "to be played in the foyer". He has also given it the subtitle "or The provability of any and every contention".
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
written by the German modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
playwright Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
. It originally formed the penultimate scene of Brecht's full-length play Man Equals Man
Man Equals Man
Man Equals Man , or A Man's a Man, is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. One of Brecht's earlier works, it explores themes of war, human fungibility, and identity...
, but by 1926 Brecht had separated it to an appendix to the published text. It was performed as part of Man Equals Man
Man Equals Man
Man Equals Man , or A Man's a Man, is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. One of Brecht's earlier works, it explores themes of war, human fungibility, and identity...
that same year. It is an interlude
Entr'acte
' is French for "between the acts" . It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission, but it more often indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production...
form of play within a play and in a later note Brecht suggests that it is "to be played in the foyer". He has also given it the subtitle "or The provability of any and every contention".