Epic Theatre

Genre within modern theatre

Bertolt Brecht

* most influence socio-political playwright of the 20th century
* wanted to change the relationship between the theatre and audiences
* fled Germany (like Piscator and Weill too), because their ideologies did not align with Hitlers
* Theories on acting and new performance approach
* saw theatre as a way to make society better

Didactic Drama

Teach with the intention of moral instruction

Epic theatre

* did not refer to scale but rather its structure and audience engagement
* emphasized socio-political content
* implemented different devices and techniques to interrupt the flow (plot, acting, design) (audiences forced to be critical and analytical as active, rather than passive viewers)

What medium grew in popularity in the late 19th century?

film

* Brecht was a big advocate of including different artforms in an attempt to keep the artforms relevant

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three-penny opera

* '“a play with music” -- he didn’t want it categorized as opera because they were essentially too cool for opera
* but basically a new form of opera and musical theatre

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Brechtian

* refers to his practice of theatre
* artists who emulate his practices are called this
* had developed to encompass modern theatre in general

Brecht early works

* influenced by expressionism (exaggerate subjective emotions as opposed to objective reality → episodic, nightmarish form)
* episodic
* fractured language
* based on fiction

Brecht’s later plays

* no longer explored fractured language
* episodic, loosely connected scenes
* avoided theatrical illusion (wanted audiences to be forced to confront their world)
* moved away from the distinct language of his earlier works, but still remained episodic
* as an investigation of the society
* wrote plays that criticized and explored:


1. war and transformation of men into cold-blooded soldiers
2. Greed and criminality of capitalism

what is epic theatre a direct contrast of?

Konstantin Stanislavski

* convince the audience what is on stage is real
* absorb audience
* naturalistic acting
* super accurate staging (bought furniture from the country it was based in)

Epic Theatre techniques: Aesthetic Principle: “separation of the elements”

* writing, acting, design
* elements of the work interrupt each other
* contrasts gesamtkunstwerk (cohesive) (instead it is the V-effekt)

Epic theatre techniques: Verfremdungseffekt (or V-effekt)

* also alienation effect, a-effect, and estrangement effect
* at the heart of the Brechtian theatre history
* Reminder of the artificiality of the performance

Techniques used to achieve the V-effekt

* language
* plot
* acting
* music
* set design
* wanted to make the audience pause and examine what they are watching
* used thee to pull the audience out of the performance

epic theatre techniques: Aesthetic distance

* level of separation between the art and the audience
* Brecht deliberately violated the aesthetic distance

(example: used happy-sounding songs with very sinister lyrics-- wanted the song to be jarring)

epic theatre techniques: acting

* actors and characters as two separate entities
* Brecht had actors speak about their characters in the third person in the rehearsal

epic theatre techniques: used in performance

* actors step out of character in performance to lecture, summerize, or sing
* written (text projected on stage) spoilers on stage before each scene -- takes the suspense away from the audience

epic theatre techniques: plot

* foreign (to his german audience) geographic locations

epic theatre techniques: design

* ambiguous stage design
* exposing technical elements - lights and rope
* didn’t represent a specific location

Berliner Ensemble

founded by Brecht and Weigel after their return to Germany after ww2

* used brechtian theories in produtcion
* established Brechtian style as major influence in contemporary theatre in Germany and abroad

post WW2 impacts

* most German theatres destroyed during war
* push to rebuild cultural foundation in east and west germany
* drama written focused on subjects of guilt and responsibility ( was deeply political and social ) (mainly in the 1950’s)

Brecht legacy in postwar german theatre

* new generation of playwrights adopting Brechtian style
* other playwrights borrowed it to create their own style
* mixing Brechtian and absurdist techniques
* goal of transforming audiences engagement with theatre fell short but he changes some forms of theatre from just being a spectacle to being critical
* combining elements of theatre of crulety and Brechtian interest in history
* explored by Peter Weiss
* resulted in documentary theatre that was popular in the 1960’s

which play for class was epic theatre?

The Good Woman of Setzuan

* does not offer a solution, ends the play in a high-tension moment
* gods dip and leave struggles
* compromising morals to exist in the society
* success relies on the exploitation of people
* the ending is a call to action
* Brechtian techniques used


1. random songs
2. alter ego played by the same character
3. takes place in China
4. a lot of characters
5. episodic