Download Epic Theatre

Epic Theatre
Art is not a
mirror held up
to reality, but a
hammer with
which to shape
it
- BERTOLT BRECHT
Structure of this lesson

Timeline of Brecht’s life – important context for the
Epic theatre style

Examples of the kinds of plays Brecht wrote

A visual comparison between Naturalism and Epic

The Conventions of Epic Theatre

A video showcasing epic theatre
Timeline

1917- Brecht, a medical student studying in Germany, was conscripted
into the army, right at the end of World War 1

1918 – Brecht, at the age of 20, wrote his first play, Baal

1924 – Brecht began experimenting with non-naturalistic ideas – White
face paint and signs giving plot summaries

1927 – Brecht became extremely interested in the work of Karl Marx and
between 1927 and 1932 he became very involved with political theatre
in Germany.

1933 – With Hitler’s rise to power, Brecht had to flee Germany due to his
affiliations with the communist party. He moved from place to place,
finally settling in Denmark. It was around this time that he wrote some of
his most famous plays: Life Of Galileo, Mother Courage and her Children,
The Good Woman of Szechwan and more

In 1941, during the Second World War, Brecht was forced to flee with his
family to America. A few years later he would write his most famous play,
The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

1947 – Brecht was accused of being a communist conspirator in
America, during the McCarthy trials. He returned to Europe and to East
Berlin. In 1949 he formed the Berliner Ensemble, which was known as one
of the world’s great theatre companies.

1956 – Brecht passed away after suffering a heart attack
Bertolt Brecht

Dramaturg AND
Playwright

Unlike Stanislavsky,
Brecht wrote his own
plays

His plays focused on
societal issues, and
were very large in their
scope
The kinds of plays Brecht
wrote
Mother Courage:
The Good Woman of Setzuan
Written 1938
Performed 1941
Written 1941
Blurb:
‘In this chronicle play of the thirty
years war, Mother Courage follows
the armies back and forth across
Europe, selling provisions and liquor
from her canteen wagon. One by
one she loses her children to the
war but will not part with her
wagon’
Performed 1943
Blurb:
‘Shen Te struggles to live a good life
in dishonest, brutal, pre-communist
China, but her goodness leads
people to take advantage of her.
Deciding to test her true nature, the
gods give her a tobacco shop, but
Shen Te struggles to strike a balance
between generosity and the
requirements of her business. Shen
Te decides to invent a male alter
ego to protect herself. But she
discovers her compassionate
nature is replaces with an
indomitable, violent personality,
which copes much better with the
world around her.’
Key thing about Epic Theatre:
The Alienation of Audience
Brecht developed a key difference a between his
theatre style and others.
In his native language, alienation is derived from the
complex term translated differently by scholars from
the German “verfremdungseffekt”
The key thing to remember is that Brecht wanted the
audience to be distanced from your emotions and
have an intellectual response to the drama. He
never wanted his audience to become absorbed by
the story, he simply wanted to explore ideas related
to the story.
Conventions of Epic
Theatre

narration

direct address to audience

placards and signs

projection

spoiling dramatic tension in advance of episodes (scenes)

disjointed time sequences – flash backs and flash forwards
– large jumps in time between episodes (scenes)

historification – setting events in another place and/or time
in order to distance the emotional impact, yet enhance
the intellectual impact for the spectator (audience)

fragmentary costumes – single items of clothing
representing the entire costume
Conventions of Epic
Theatre

fragmentary props – single objects representing a larger
picture (or setting)

song – like parables in the Bible, songs are used to
communicate the message or themes of the drama

demonstration of role – actors are encouraged not to fully
become the role, but rather to ‘demonstrate’ the role at
arms length, with a sense of detachment

multiple roles – actors commonly perform more than one
character in a drama

costume changes in full view of the spectator (audience)

lighting equipment in full view of the spectator (audience)

open white lighting – due to its emotional impact, colored
light on stage is eliminated – instead, the stage is flooded
with white light
Comparison of type - Naturalism
Comparison Of Type - Epic
What is the Impact of
Epic Theatre Today??
Oasis – Amanda Palmer
Amanda Palmer on the single
‘Oasis’ – Direct from her Blog
I sat down one day in or around 2002 and wrote a
tongue-in-cheek, ironic up-tempo pop song.
a song about a girl who got drunk, was date raped,
and had an abortion.
she sings about these things lightly and joyfully and
says that she doesn’t care that these things have
happened to her because oasis, (her favorite band)
has sent her an autographed photo in the mail. and
to make things even better (!!), her bitchy friend
melissa, who told the whole school about the
abortion, is really jealous.
if you cannot sense the irony in this song, you’re
about two intelligence points above a kumquat.
Amanda Palmer – cont.
“you’re damn right this s**t makes people uncomfortable.
it makes people uncomfortable to hear ANYONE talking about
abortion and rape bluntly, much less talking about it LIKE THIS….
and i think it makes people uncomfortable to hear the truth about
a very real and sick situation:
if you don’t know – or have never encountered – a teenager who is
going through intense heavy experiences (like rape, abortion,
eating disorders, abuse, fill-in-the-blank)
and is laughing these things off like THEY DON’T MATTER, then you
are not ALIVE and AWAKE and living on this planet.
IT’S HAPPENING EVERYWHERE. i see it all the time. it’s called being a
confused teenager. it’s real. it SUCKS.
abortion is serious. rape is serious. lots of things are serious. do they
think i’m blind?
the song isn’t even so much ABOUT those topics, it’s about denial,
it’s about a girl who can’t find it in herself to take her situation
seriously.
that girl exists, everywhere. you probably know her. you’ve
probably met her. you might be her.”
- Copied Directly from Amanda Palmers Blog
Amanda Palmers Song – An
example of Modern Epic?

What did the tone of this song explore about the
issue of Rape, Abortion and fundamentalism?

Did the video’s bright and over the top nature pull
a sharper focus on the issue being explored? How
did it do this?

How does Amanda Palmer use the Alienation
technique (knowingly or not!) to address or
explore an issue effectively?
A Word Of Warning

The Famous German actress Lotte Lenya told the
story of how she asked Brecht for advice about
acting in one of his plays. Instead of giving her a
list of rules, Brecht simply told her to follow her
instincts and go about the business of acting. So
Brecht himself was aware that his famous theories
could only be taken so far.

Brecht’s plays and performances always used a
mix of these ideas, with naturalistic or realistic
elements, to produce something highly political
and message driven. Be sure to focus your
attention on this.
Mother Courage – National Theatre