published a collection of stories about sexually charged encounters between men and it was promptly censored. Other authors of such material include Klaus Mann, Anna Elisabet Weirauch, Christa Winsloe, Erich Ebermayer, and Max René Hesse. Theatre The theatres of Berlin and Frankfurt am Main were graced with drama by Ernst Toller, Bertolt Brecht, cabaret, and stage direction by Max Reinhardt and Erwin Piscator. Many theatre works were sympathetic towards Marxist themes, or were overt experiments in propaganda, such as the agitprop theatre by Brecht and Weill. Agitprop theatre is named through a combination of the words "agitation" and "propaganda". Its aim was to add elements of public protest (agitation) and persuasive politics (propaganda) to the theatre, in the hope of creating a more activist audience. Among other works, Brecht and Kurt Weill collaborated on the musical or opera The Threepenny Opera (1928), also filmed, which remains a popular evocation of the period. Toller was the leading German expressionist playwright of the era. He later became one of the leading proponents of New Objectivity in the theatre. The avant-garde theater of Bertolt Brecht and Max Reinhardt in Berlin was the most advanced in Europe, being rivaled only by that of Paris. The Weimar years saw a flourishing of political and grotesque cabaret which, at least for the English-speaking world, has become iconic for the period through works such as The Berlin Stories by the English writer Christopher Isherwood, who lived in Berlin from 1929-33. The musical and then the film Cabaret were based upon Isherwood's misadventures at Nollendorfstrasse 17 in the Schöneberg district where he lived with cabaret singer Jean Ross. The main center for political cabaret was Berlin, with performers like comedian Otto Reutter. Karl Valentin was a master of grotesque cabaret. Music Concert halls heard the atonal and modern music of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, and Kurt Weill. Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau were other modernist composers of the era. Richard Strauss, in his 50s at the start of the period, continued to compose, mostly operas including Intermezzo (1924) and Die ägyptische Helena (1928). Modern dance Rudolf von Laban and Mary Wigman laid the foundations for the development of contemporary dance. Cinema At the beginning of the Weimar era, cinema meant silent films. Expressionist films featured plots exploring the dark side of human nature. They had elaborate expressionist design sets, and the style was typically nightmarish in atmosphere. The