Brecht’s Epic Theatre

Beginnings of epic theatre

Elizabethan Theatre Popular Entertainments

Naturalism vs Epic theatre

Plot Implicates the spectator in

a stage situation Wears down the spectator’s

capacity for action Provides the audience with

sensations The spectator is involved in

something Suggestion Instinctive feelings are

preserved The spectator is in the thick

of it, shares the experience

Narrative Turns the spectator into an

observer Arouses the spectator’s

capacity for action Forces the audience to take

decisions The spectator is made to

face something Argument Brought to the point of

recognition The spectator stands

outside, studies

Naturalism vs Epic theatre

The human being is taken for granted

The human being is unalterable

One scene makes another Growth Linear development A human being is a fixed

point Thought determines being

Feeling

The human being is the object of the enquiry

The human being is alterable and able to alter

Each scene for itself Montage Broken up A human being is a process

Social being determines thought

Reason

Montage

Epic Theatre

Verfremdungseffekt

Geste Music and Song

Placards

NarrationDesign

Montage

Similar images juxtaposed together Intended to ‘shock’ the audience Kept audience alert and awake Drew attention to the content Opposed progressive growth of plot

Influenced by Chinese theatre Make familiar seem strange Renew audiences interest in the familiar Not submerging actor in character Creates a more objective stance Placards Narration Not Alienation

Verfremdungseffekt

Geste

Gist and Gesture Attitude expressed through words or actions Charlie Chaplin used as influence Contrasts naturalism

Music and Song

Essential in Brechtian theatre Interrupted the text Music and Song used separately Commented upon character’s feelings Used non-naturalistically

Design

Use of ‘half-curtain’ allowing backstage to be seen

Costume changes made on stage Projections separate from action Sharp, clear lighting Restricted colour schemes Placards

Plays

Can be considered in three stages;

The early period The propaganda plays The plays of Brecht’s maturity

The Early Period

Trommeln in der Nacht (Drums in the Night; 1918),

Mann ist Mann (Man is Man; 1924-5) Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera;

1928) and Mahagonny (The Rise and Fall of the Town of

Mahagonny; 1928-9).

The Propaganda plays

Der Flug des Lindberghs [Der Ozeanflug] (The Flight of Lindbergh [the Ocean Flight])

Das Badener Lehrstück vom Einverständnis, (The Bavarian Parable Play of Understanding)

Der Jasager (The Yes-Sayer) Der Neinsager (The No-Sayer) Die Massnahme (The Measures Taken) and Die Ausnahme und die Regel (The Exception

and the Rule).

The plays of Brecht’s maturity

Mutter Courage und Ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and her Children; first performed 1941;)

Leben des Galilei (Life of Galileo; 1943) Der Gute Mensch von Sezuan (The Good Person

of Sezuan; 1943), and Der Kaukasische Kreidekreis (The Caucasian

Chalk-Circle; performed in English, 1947; in German, not till 1954).