Register  
 
About Us | Help | Sign in
 
   

Revision:Brecht

From The Student Room

TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > Theatre Studies > Brecht


Contents

Brecht, Epic Theatre

Heavily influences by Karl Marx.

  • Challenging this dream world, wanted spectator to become an observer who was awake and alert. Epic Theatre posed problems, which were not solved and left the spectator with a task to be accomplished in the real world.
  • Against Dramatic Theatre “The Theatre Of Illusion”. It represented all the Brecht detested, sucking the spectator into the action into the illusion were problems were carefully resolved at the conclusion of the play. This meant the spectator could leave those problems behind at the theatre after the performance, Brecht wanted to make the spectator leave with a problem to be solved later in the real world.


Lets compare these two forms of theatre: ( I may interchange the word observer with spectator throughout, but Brecht did convert his audience into observers)

Dramatic Theatre Epic Theatre
Plot: has a beginning, middle and end and issues in the play are solved. Narrative: begins anywhere, continues and stops. Issues are not resolved.
Implicates the spectator into situation, that they’re watching what is meant to be real life. Spectator becomes an observer, suggests the observer should question what s/he is seeing.
Wears down the spectators capacity for action. Arouses the observers capacity for action.
Provides audience with sensations, ideas are reinforced. Forces audience to make decisions.
Spectator is involved Spectator is made to face something.
Suggestion Argument
Spectator shares the experience Spectator stands outside
Human being is taken for granted Human being is the object of inquiry
Human being is unalterable Change is possible
Smooth progression of scenes Montage: events are shown in self contained scenes
Linear development Broken up
Thought determines being Social being determines thought
Theatre with feelings, indulge in emotions Theatre with reasoning, audience made to question what they are seeing, form opinions.


Some of the main points of Brecht

Montage

“Epic theatre proceeds by fits and starts, in the manner comparable to the images on a film strip.”

  • Seemingly unrelated images juxtaposed (placed next to each other) together could shock
  • Drew attention to the actual content, because it proceeded in jumps and not progressive.
  • Structured theatre so it was totally OPPOSITE TO THE DRAMATIC THEATRE


Verfremdungseffekt

(Started to use this phrase after seeing the Chinese actor Mei Lan-fang)

“Dislocating our habitual perceptions of the real world so as to make it the object of renewed attentiveness”

An example:

“The sky is blue” – tells us nothing about the sky we know already

“It was a sunny day and the sky was like a new sheet of blotting paper with the blue ink tipped in the middle of it” – vivid imagery, increases our attentiveness to the sky.

The actor makes himself the subject of “renewed attentiveness” by not submerging himself in the character.

The actor plays the role, not the character.

Audience look closer at the mechanism of acting.

The technique encouraged “distancing” the audience from the action so they could observe and form opinions of the problem presented to them, they are not involved in the action.

Being distanced makes the audience see more clearly, rather than take things for granted.


Geste

(also means gesture)

  • An aspect of an attitude expressible in words or actions.
  • Actor made to make himself stand between the spectator and the text.
  • Contrasts naturalism
  • Standing outside the character
  • Not on movement is wasted to convey meaning
  • Acting in quotation marks.


Music

  • Music essential to his theatre
  • Music interrupted the text
  • Music and songs treated as separated elements
  • Songs could comment on the character’s feelings as a third person narrative, and by doing so far from naturalism.


Design

  • Clear and sharp lighting
  • Half curtain, seeing actors change costume etc
  • Selective realism provided the minimum to suggest time and place
  • Audience kept alert by devices that reminded its members they were in a theatre.


Comments

This essay is aimed at A Level theatre studies.

Originally written by Mullerice on TSR Forums.

collapse
Clearing & Results
 
 

Or get advice in our Clearing and Applications forum

collapse AS/A2 Pending question
collapse Recommended Reading for Computer Science
collapse any one just as confused as me ?
collapse What are the most competitive courses at top universities
collapse Entrance Statistics for Warwick Uni
 
Recent Threads
 
collapse Appalled with the NHS
started by: kat2pult
replies: 72
last post: 1 Minute Ago
collapse Good Text Books For Further Maths
started by: jw366
forum: Maths
replies: 1
last post: 1 Minute Ago
collapse Is anyone here...
started by: D-Day
forum: Gaming
replies: 0
last post: 2 Minutes Ago
collapse Wax residue on face! How to remove?
started by: Anonymous
replies: 16
last post: 5 Minutes Ago