Brecht’s belief that drama should present moral ideas through action is unfashionable, but as theatre becomes ever more narcissistic, audiences are seeking him out again

Not dead yet: Rebecca Brewer and Joseph Arkley in Brecht’s In the Jungle of Cities, revived at the Arcola in London. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

It’s that man again: Bertolt Brecht. His early play, In the Jungle of Cities, is being revived at London’s Arcola, and later this month he’s back in the West End, as Jonathan Church’s Chichester production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui moves to the Duchess. It’s a production that won lots of praise when first seen last year, not least for the comic demonism of Henry Goodman’s performance as the eponymous Chicago racketeer who provides a metaphor for Adolf Hitler. But, for all its dazzling energy, I suspect the production will raise all the old arguments about Brecht’s standing today. Is he still an irresistible force or simply a chapter in theatrical history whose reputation has declined with the collapse of eastern European communism? http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/sep/18/bertolt-brecht-arturo-ui-revival