BECHER, JOHANNES R.

(1891-1958)

   Playwright. One of the few Expressionist playwrights who ultimately achieved the political power he sought in his youth, Becher became minister of culture in the East German state in 1954. During the National Socialist period, he had lived in the Soviet Union, where he became an advocate of Socialist Realism. In that style, he wrote his most frequently performed play, Winterschlacht (Winter Battle, premiered 1952 in Prague); it became a staple of the repertoires in most theaters located within Eastern Bloc countries during the later 1950s.