Brechtian and Epic
Theatre Portfolio
“Art is not a mirror with which to reflect
reality but a hammer with which to shape it.’’- Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht was born in 1898 Augsburg, Bavaria.
Brecht had a very strong opinion on political based issues which occurred
around him. Growing up at the time of the First World War Brecht was faced with
very hostile judgement and propaganda, which he opposed against in 1915 in a
school essay which he was nearly expelled for. Brecht’s argument was that –
‘only an empty-headed person could be persuaded to die for their country.
’After the death of his mother in the year 1920, In pursuit of a career in theatre Brecht went to Munich and then Berlin, after serving as a medical orderly in the first world war. In 1933 the second war began, lead by Adolf Hitler. In fear of persecution Brecht fled Nazi Germany, with his second wife and family. The Nazi’s formally removed his citizenship, so he was a stateless citizen and for several years during this period Brecht wrote one of his most famous plays ' Mother Courage and her Children' in which he expressed his opposition to the National socialist and Fascists movements; in response to the invasion of Poland by the Nazi Armies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWApVvqM-W0
In 1949 Brecht co-founded a theatre company called The Berliner Ensemble with his second wife Helene Weigel (who also played as a leading actress and co-director). Brecht’s company was originated as a branch of The Deutsches Theatre and then went on to becoming and independent state theatre in 1954 as a theatre of its own.
Brecht had very different ideas about how drama should be executed in comparison to other practitioners. He used various techniques, one of them being ‘Gestus’. Gestus is a mixture of non-realistic and realistic character gesture used by the actor to capture a moment instead of attaching an emotion to the character. Character Gestus is influenced by Marxists principles (Marxist believes that capitalism can only flourish on the exploitation of working class). By using gestures, it informs the audience about part of the story quickly in a generic way so Gestus enhances the gestures by combining attitude into them to give the gesture depth.
The fourth wall is a theatrical metaphor shared between the actors and the audience. The idea is that there is a transparent barrier between the actors and the audience and the actors are unaware that the audience are watching them. This fourth wall is broken when the actor directly talks to the audience. This is different from a monologue in classical theatre (e.g., Shakespeare), when the character shares something that we can hear but the other performers can’t. By contrast, these devices traditionally keep the performer within the universe of the play. Many kinds of theatrical performance get rid of the fourth wall entirely. But in realistic drama, breaking the fourth wall can be entertaining and comedic. A character might confide in the audience by letting you in on a joke or sharing a piece of knowledge that the other characters don’t have. Brecht’s ideology of breaking the fourth wall was to pulverize naturalistic conventions, he wanted highlight the relationship between the stage and the audience by making the actors invade the privacy and comfortability of the audience in order to provoke extreme emotions that will keep them thinking throughout the duration of the play and encourage them to reflect on the issues raised.
The difference between Epic and Dramatic theatre is that in Epic theatre Brecht prefers to view his audience as spectators, the aim is to present ideas with a clear argument that shares various viewpoints. Since the audience is only a spectator, the audience is kept at an emotional distance from the action therefore the audience is always aware that they are watching a play. The main purpose is to not imitate reality.
On the other hand Dramatic theatre is more inclusive towards its audience and aims to make the audience feel emotionally involved. the audience is made to feel a part of the play by putting them into the action thus embedding emotion in them .It makes the audience very involved in the play and what’s happening to the extent that it doesn’t give them a chance to look at the play from a distance and reflect.in dramatic theatre scenes are linked together whereas epic theatre can be more randomized -by linking scenes together it presents you with the world as it is so the audience leaves the theatre believing that life is unchangeable and inevitable. Dramatic theatre allows the audience to see a representation of reality encouraging us to accept it without thinking so that’s why it gives you a sense of inevitability and fate. The audience identifies with the characters through terror and pity.
The idea of verfremdungseffek, also known as the ‘v-effect’ or the alienation effect is designed to keep the audience from becoming emotionally invested by jolting reminders using Brecht techniques that what is being seen is not real. Otherwise Brecht’s message would be lost. Brecht deliberately used unrealistic techniques such as placards or illustrations projected on a screen; actors stepping out of character to lecture, summarize, or sing songs; and stage designs that do not represent any locality but that, by exposing the lights and ropes, keep the spectators aware of being in a theatre. This always reminds the audience that this is not even close to reality and that they are watching a play. Brecht wanted actors to make a balance between “being” their characters and showing the audience that the character is “being played”. The actor must always remember that he is an actor and that he is only portraying the feelings and emotions of his character.
Multi-roling is when an actor plays more than one character onstage. The differences in character are marked by changing voice, movement, gesture and body language but the audience can clearly see that the same actor has taken on more than one role. This means the audience are more aware of the fact that they are watching a play. Sometimes it is used to denote roles of specific individuals (rather than more generic roles such as “journalist” or “scientist”).
In a Brechtian play lighting and sound would be very minimal and simple, to avoid any emotional connection with the audience. Brecht would use; screen projection used to reinforce play’s theme/s (to garner an intellectual response, not emotional), open white light only (as colour would generate an emotional response from the audience) if the house lights were left on during a performance, open white light also allowed for the spectators and performers to share a single same-lit space. Lighting instruments in full view of audience (no attempt to hide them, but rather remind the audience they were watching a play) and music and song used to express the play’s themes independent of the main spoken text in the play (in parable scenes) - music was used to neutralise emotion, rather than intensify it (opposite to a modern-day musical).
Brecht used this style of theatre because he wanted to reach ultimate objectivity from the audience’s side instead of identifying with the characters. This way the audience will learn the reality of their society and world. Brecht believed that theatre should not play with the audience’s feelings but should appeal and influence his reason/mind. It should encourage the audience to have a more critical attitude to what’s happening on stage and grasp their attention by making them feel uncomfortable with how abstract and unfiltered it is. Brecht refuses to assume that the audience could only be reached through their emotion but through their minds so he doesn’t want the audience to relate to the characters and become emotionally involved with them (breaking empathy for characters) at all but make them think about their own life and this is where change will come.
’After the death of his mother in the year 1920, In pursuit of a career in theatre Brecht went to Munich and then Berlin, after serving as a medical orderly in the first world war. In 1933 the second war began, lead by Adolf Hitler. In fear of persecution Brecht fled Nazi Germany, with his second wife and family. The Nazi’s formally removed his citizenship, so he was a stateless citizen and for several years during this period Brecht wrote one of his most famous plays ' Mother Courage and her Children' in which he expressed his opposition to the National socialist and Fascists movements; in response to the invasion of Poland by the Nazi Armies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWApVvqM-W0
In 1949 Brecht co-founded a theatre company called The Berliner Ensemble with his second wife Helene Weigel (who also played as a leading actress and co-director). Brecht’s company was originated as a branch of The Deutsches Theatre and then went on to becoming and independent state theatre in 1954 as a theatre of its own.
Brecht had very different ideas about how drama should be executed in comparison to other practitioners. He used various techniques, one of them being ‘Gestus’. Gestus is a mixture of non-realistic and realistic character gesture used by the actor to capture a moment instead of attaching an emotion to the character. Character Gestus is influenced by Marxists principles (Marxist believes that capitalism can only flourish on the exploitation of working class). By using gestures, it informs the audience about part of the story quickly in a generic way so Gestus enhances the gestures by combining attitude into them to give the gesture depth.
The fourth wall is a theatrical metaphor shared between the actors and the audience. The idea is that there is a transparent barrier between the actors and the audience and the actors are unaware that the audience are watching them. This fourth wall is broken when the actor directly talks to the audience. This is different from a monologue in classical theatre (e.g., Shakespeare), when the character shares something that we can hear but the other performers can’t. By contrast, these devices traditionally keep the performer within the universe of the play. Many kinds of theatrical performance get rid of the fourth wall entirely. But in realistic drama, breaking the fourth wall can be entertaining and comedic. A character might confide in the audience by letting you in on a joke or sharing a piece of knowledge that the other characters don’t have. Brecht’s ideology of breaking the fourth wall was to pulverize naturalistic conventions, he wanted highlight the relationship between the stage and the audience by making the actors invade the privacy and comfortability of the audience in order to provoke extreme emotions that will keep them thinking throughout the duration of the play and encourage them to reflect on the issues raised.
The difference between Epic and Dramatic theatre is that in Epic theatre Brecht prefers to view his audience as spectators, the aim is to present ideas with a clear argument that shares various viewpoints. Since the audience is only a spectator, the audience is kept at an emotional distance from the action therefore the audience is always aware that they are watching a play. The main purpose is to not imitate reality.
On the other hand Dramatic theatre is more inclusive towards its audience and aims to make the audience feel emotionally involved. the audience is made to feel a part of the play by putting them into the action thus embedding emotion in them .It makes the audience very involved in the play and what’s happening to the extent that it doesn’t give them a chance to look at the play from a distance and reflect.in dramatic theatre scenes are linked together whereas epic theatre can be more randomized -by linking scenes together it presents you with the world as it is so the audience leaves the theatre believing that life is unchangeable and inevitable. Dramatic theatre allows the audience to see a representation of reality encouraging us to accept it without thinking so that’s why it gives you a sense of inevitability and fate. The audience identifies with the characters through terror and pity.
The idea of verfremdungseffek, also known as the ‘v-effect’ or the alienation effect is designed to keep the audience from becoming emotionally invested by jolting reminders using Brecht techniques that what is being seen is not real. Otherwise Brecht’s message would be lost. Brecht deliberately used unrealistic techniques such as placards or illustrations projected on a screen; actors stepping out of character to lecture, summarize, or sing songs; and stage designs that do not represent any locality but that, by exposing the lights and ropes, keep the spectators aware of being in a theatre. This always reminds the audience that this is not even close to reality and that they are watching a play. Brecht wanted actors to make a balance between “being” their characters and showing the audience that the character is “being played”. The actor must always remember that he is an actor and that he is only portraying the feelings and emotions of his character.
Multi-roling is when an actor plays more than one character onstage. The differences in character are marked by changing voice, movement, gesture and body language but the audience can clearly see that the same actor has taken on more than one role. This means the audience are more aware of the fact that they are watching a play. Sometimes it is used to denote roles of specific individuals (rather than more generic roles such as “journalist” or “scientist”).
In a Brechtian play lighting and sound would be very minimal and simple, to avoid any emotional connection with the audience. Brecht would use; screen projection used to reinforce play’s theme/s (to garner an intellectual response, not emotional), open white light only (as colour would generate an emotional response from the audience) if the house lights were left on during a performance, open white light also allowed for the spectators and performers to share a single same-lit space. Lighting instruments in full view of audience (no attempt to hide them, but rather remind the audience they were watching a play) and music and song used to express the play’s themes independent of the main spoken text in the play (in parable scenes) - music was used to neutralise emotion, rather than intensify it (opposite to a modern-day musical).
Brecht used this style of theatre because he wanted to reach ultimate objectivity from the audience’s side instead of identifying with the characters. This way the audience will learn the reality of their society and world. Brecht believed that theatre should not play with the audience’s feelings but should appeal and influence his reason/mind. It should encourage the audience to have a more critical attitude to what’s happening on stage and grasp their attention by making them feel uncomfortable with how abstract and unfiltered it is. Brecht refuses to assume that the audience could only be reached through their emotion but through their minds so he doesn’t want the audience to relate to the characters and become emotionally involved with them (breaking empathy for characters) at all but make them think about their own life and this is where change will come.
No comments:
Post a Comment