The Modern Theatre Is the Epic Theatre Student Review
Epic theatre began in Germany in the early 20th century with Erwin Piscator and Bertolt Brecht. Working independently and together on a number of projects during the 1920s, mostly in Berlin, both practitioners developed their ain brand of this radical new theatre form. Largely anti-realistic in fashion, ballsy theatre aimed to politically educate the German working class using an intellectual mode of delivery with express emotion. Brecht's epic theatre saw stages that were sparsely populated with few gear up pieces, signs, visible stage machinery, open white light and basic costumes. Piscator's theatre, however, employed the full use of engineering science, huge multi-level sets, ramps, treadmills and projection in an expressionistic style. – Justin Greenbacks
Ballsy Theatre Resources
Excellent serial of applied activities developed for A Level Drama and Theatre students involving Brecht and politics, Marxism, gestus, quotes and techniques/conventions.
Splendid introductory guide for students with several pages exploring Bertolt Brecht and the many aspects of the ballsy theatre mode, from BBC Bitesize.
A series of posts most Epic Theatre for students from The Drama Instructor website:
The "dramatic theatre" in the tabular array beneath refers to guidelines prepare down by the Greek philosopher Aristotle and tin can be loosely interpreted as the realistic or naturalistic theatre. The "ballsy theatre" employed by Brecht should not be interpreted as direct opposites of the previously accustomed conventions of Aristotelian drama. Brecht himself said "This table does not prove absolute antithesis but mere shifts of accent. In a communication of fact, for case, we may choose whether to stress the element of emotional suggestion or that of apparently rational argument". – Justin Cash
| Dramatic Theatre | Epic Theatre |
|---|---|
| events are incorporated and enacted within a plot | events are narrated and telescoped over time |
| implicates the audience fellow member in a state of affairs (emotional connection) | turns the spectator into an observer (disquisitional detachment) |
| wears downwardly the audience's chapters for activeness (pacifies) | arouses the spectator's chapters for action (stimulates) |
| provides audition member with sensations (feelings) | provokes the spectator to make decisions (thought) |
| experience of what is happening on stage (passive) | broader knowledge of the outside earth (active) |
| the audience member is involved in the activity (internal) | the spectator is confronted with something (external) |
| instinctive feelings are preserved (inaction) | brought to the point of recognition (action) |
| the audience is in the middle of everything (feels) | the spectator stands from a distance and studies (observes) |
| characters are taken at face value | homo being is the object of investigation |
| people do non change | people tin can change / changed by others |
| the plot is concerned with reaching a decision | the plot is more concerned with the process |
| scenes are the result of those preceding them (cause and consequence relationship) | each episode exists for itself (independent, loosely connected) |
| growth is evident in the plot | narrative looks like a montage of events |
| plot progresses in a linear fashion | narrative progresses in curves |
| characters determined by development (predictable) | jumps in graphic symbol behaviour (unpredictable) |
| human existence as a fixed point (static) | human beingness as a process (dynamic) |
| thought determines being | social beingness determines thought |
| feeling | reason |
Allegory
Stories hiding a deeper meaning behind the surface, evident in several of Brecht'southward plays.
Berliner Ensemble
Theatre company established past Bertolt Brecht and his actress-married woman Helene Weigel in Due east Berlin, 1949. The Berliner Ensemble still operates today.
Caricature
Exaggeration of a grapheme that is often comical, but at other times grotesque. Many characters in ballsy theatre plays accept a hint of caricature fastened to them, some more obvious than others.
Demonstrate
Description of how an actor in an epic theatre play establishes role. Instead of becoming the character, actors are asked to demonstrate role at arm'south length.
Didactic
To teach or instruct – the purpose of many of Brecht'southward plays.
Direct accost
Device where an thespian directly faces and delivers dialogue to the audition, in the process breaking the imaginary quaternary wall that divides stage from spectator.
Epic
Term used to title Brecht'due south form of theatre, originally coined past collaborator Erwin Piscator, deriving from the bang-up epic poems in history.
Epilogue
End department of a literary work, dissever from the main plot. Some of Brecht's plays contain an epilogue where a character straight addresses the audience.
Episode
A self-contained unit of action common in epic theatre plays. Preferred epic theatre term for 'scene'.
Gestus (guest-oos)
A fusion of Marxism and theatre, gestus had multiple meanings over time as Brecht's ideas evolved. Mostly accepted as a form of physical expression with a social annotate.
Half-Curtain
Basic drapery covering simply the lower half of the stage opening. Used by Brecht during scene changes to destroy illusion, thus remind spectators they were watching a play.
Historicisation (formerly historification)
Technique employed past Brecht in several of his works. Events of the present Brecht wished to highlight to the spectator for critical cess, were placed in the by (oft bearded). Brecht hoped the spectator would now exist able to view the events with critical detachment.
Lehrstücke (lee-r-schtoocker)
A number of smaller "learning plays" written past Brecht originally not intended for performance. Actors in rehearsal and workshops were asked to discuss the events of the play from a Marxist perspective.
Marxism
Economic, social and political belief that underpins the practice of socialism and communism. Several of Brecht's plays, rehearsal and operation techniques had a Marxist underlining.
Montage
Description of how the plot exists in many epic theatre plays. Different in the theatre of realism, Brecht'southward plots often develop in curves instead of a linear mode. Sometimes, action clashes with events in surrounding scenes that are only loosely connected (episodic).
Narrative
Implies a large storyline roofing multiple locations and time-frames. Consistent with epic theatre.
Narrator
A character in an epic theatre play that functions equally the storyteller of the plot, oftentimes addressing the audience straight.
Parable
A simple story used to illustrate a bigger upshot, often a moral lesson. Brecht inserted parables in some of his plays as well as writing unabridged works scholars refer to as "parable plays".
Prologue
Introductory section of a literary work, separate from the main plot. Some of Brecht'southward works contain a prologue where a character directly addresses the audition.
Propaganda
Information used, sometimes misleadingly, to promote a political issue. Brecht'southward plays from 1926 onwards (since his encompass of Marxism) can be viewed as propaganda.
Satire
The deliberate ridiculing or mocking of people and events, frequently with exaggeration. Satire is commonly linked with comedy. Brecht associated satire with politics and society.
Song
Brecht inserted songs in some of his plays as a means of reinforcing the theme or message of the play. He collaborated with composer Kurt Weill to create The Threepenny Opera. Music and song in ballsy theatre plays are intended to neutralise, instead of heighten emotion.
Spass (ssh-paass)
German word for fun, Brecht used spass as an interlude between more than serious subject matter frequently in the class of a satirical song.
Spectator
Preferred epic theatre term for audience member, implying a critically detached view of the action.
Verfremdungseffekt (fair-frem-doongs-effect)
Misleadingly translated for decades equally "alienation effect", this core term in Brecht's epic theatre is today translated equally "defamiliarisation", "estrangement" or "to make the familiar, strange". Brecht'south aim was partly to jolt the spectator with an acting or staging technique that was not anticipated, thus awakening them for critical thought and activeness.
Visual article about Brecht and ballsy theatre with artefacts from the British Library.
Semester-length Drama unit outline for a political theatre group-devised piece using the conventions of epic theatre.
Three worthwhile educatee activities for the classroom using emotional detachment, gestus and a narrator.
Outstanding website for teachers, academy students and actors, Brecht in Practice, maintained by David Barnett, Professor of Theatre, University of York.
For usa, homo portrayed on the stage is pregnant equally a social function. It is not his relationship to himself, nor his relationship to God, but his relationship to society which is central. – Erwin Piscator.
Wikipedia Useful explanation of the major aims and techniques of Bertolt Brecht'southward theories behind his epic theatre.
Summary of the principles for this new theatre form.
Nifty thirteen lesson unit for the students in the drama classroom from the Ministry building of Education, New Zealand.
Wikipedia entry on the concept of 'the fourth wall' in the theatre, something Bertolt Brecht's epic theatre often 'bankrupt through'.
Semester-length political theatre unit for Drama using a scene from Brecht'due south Mother Courage and her Children and political cartoons as stimulus, while employing the conventions of epic theatre.
Student activities using epic theatre techniques: chorus, episodic storytelling, gestic song.
The audience should never be allowed to confuse what it sees on phase with reality. Rather, the play must e'er be thought of as a comment upon life – something to exist watched and judged critically. – Oscar Brockett.
Handy worksheets and activities for drama students involving Brecht and Artaud's non-naturalistic styles of theatre.
A few useful exercises for students of drama focusing on some of Brecht'southward techniques.
Wikipedia Outline of Bertolt Brecht'southward 'V-result' (verfremdungseffekt), sometimes known equally 'breach consequence'.
Brecht's famous 1938 essay The Street Scene: A Basic Model for an Epic Theatre.
Series of lesson plans with applied activities to assist theatre students empathise the techniques of Bertolt Brecht (and Stanislavski and Artaud, also)
Worthwhile caption of many of Brecht'south theories and techniques, accompanied by a Brecht dictionary of related terms. Neat for students.
Useful Brecht and political theatre resource for students and teachers (includes exercises).
Brecht hoped that combating the audition's tendency to become absorbed in the staged activeness in the present would turn the anticipatory "What's going to happen adjacent?" into the problem-solving "Why did they do that?". – Meg Mumford
Keen instructor and student resources about Brecht'due south theatre with a range of conventions defined, plus activities involving episodic construction and gestus.
Student worksheet for defining epic theatre conventions.
If you're up for a bit of a read, this is an excellent Masters Thesis outlining the direction of a political theatre piece for students in schools incorporating many epic theatre conventions.
Source: https://theatrelinks.com/epic-theatre/
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