Mother Courage and Her Children (1939) is a well-known and often performed play by Bertolt Brecht. The play is set during the Thirty Years War and is considered a masterpiece.

Herman Hesse's Beneath the Wheel (1906) is a good example of the work of this writer who was a friend and mentor to Weiss. This book looks at the duality of man through a story of two students.

Martin Esslin wrote a small book titled Antonin Artaud (1976). This work offers a quick look at Artaud's ideas about the Theatre of Cruelty.

Howard Barker's Scenes from an Execution (1984) deals with an historical event and is produced in an experimental fashion.

Written in 1951, Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw looks at the life and ultimate execution of Joan of Arc. Like Weiss's drama, Shaw's work is very political.

Janet Frame's Faces in the Water (1961) is a novel that examines the mentally ill residing in institutions.

Another German writer who influenced Weiss was Franz Kafka. Complete Stories and Parables (1946) is a good introduction to this important writer.