Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Bertolt Brecht
Brecht was born in 1898 in Germany
He believed that Theatre should make people
Epic Theatre
It took Brecht approximately 10 years to formulate his
Epic theatre.
His main influences were: Travelling fairs; Elizabethan
style theatre (props minimum, quick scene changes, if
any)
He wanted to make clear the distinction between
Dramatic theatre (romanticised, emphasised theatre)
and Epic theatre, which distances the audience so
they look on objectively.
Through Epic Theatre, Brecht was not providing
theatre.
Dramatic theatre aims to imitate real life on stage
and draw its audience into feeling for the characters
on stage. The human being is unalterable. It shows
man as a fixed point.
Dramatic theatre wears down the spectators capacity
for action.
Epic theatre wants the audience to be critical
observers questioning what is happening on stage ,
realising the characters are actors and that the stage
world is not attempting to pretend to be real. The
human being IS alterable. Epic Theatre is a means for
social change.
The spectator is forced to face something and see
man as a process.
To imitate or mimic?
Brecht was aiming for his actors to portray a particular
Techniques...
MONTAGE
Epic theatre precedes
in fits and starts, in a
manner comparable to
the images on a film
strip (Benjamin 1992)
Brecht used montage
to keep his audiences
alert. By putting the
scenes in an unrelated
matter you are
constantly aware.
GESTUS
Attitude of acting
which was employed
in Epic Theatre. You
can look at the work
of Charlie Chaplin as
an example. What
Brecht admired about
Chaplin was that he
was in control of his
own movements,
actions and gestures.
Design
To show the mechanics of the stage reminds the audience that
Effects
Lighting
Lighting was for clarity clear and
sharp, so that the audience could
see the actors better. There was
not an atmospheric purpose to the
lighting, but a functional purpose.
Achieving pathetic fallacy was not
the aim of using lights. Oil lamps
were often used, and they lit up
the musicians when they were on
stage.
Music
Music was vital as part of
Brechts ideas for Epic Theatre.
Musicians were on stage and part of the
action. He wanted to constantly remind
the audience that it is a play. The songs
he used commented on the action or
characters, they narrated what
happened,
what was going to happen, and
sometimes the dilemmas felt by the
characters themselves.
By employing this technique, it
prevents
the audience from being lulled into the
action, as there is a shift, therefore
keeping us alert/aroused.