Saturday, February 22, 2014

Unit 3: Epic Theatre (Bertolt Brecht) Study RESEARCH INVESTIGATION



Brecht was born in Augsburg, Germany on February 19th, 1898. While he was in school, he co-founded and co-edited the school magazine.  By the time he was 16, he wrote for the school news paper and wrote his first play about a girl and named it "The Bible". Brecht studied medicine and philosophy in the university of munich before working in the military hospital during world war I. The experience initiated his hate for war, which influenced him him to revolt, thus his fail attempt at the "socialist" revolution. After the war was over, he showed interest in literature more than medicine. He then produced a play called "Bael" and later was influenced by  Ernst Toller thus dedicating his next plays on the influence of his work. In 1927 he started showing interest in musical plays, working with composers such as Kurt Weil and Hans Eisner. "Brecht attempted to develop a new approach to the the theatre. He tried to persuade his audiences to see the stage as a stage, actors as actors and not the traditional make-believe of the theatre. Brecht required detachment, not passion, from the observing audience. The purpose of the play was to awaken the spectators' minds so that he could communicate his version of the truth." (Spartacus Educational) 
Brecht's major influence in life was the war, music and the women in his life. After Brecht studied in medical school, he worked with military hospitals where he developed a hate for war which influenced him to stir a revolution, although it was a fail he then re-discovered an interest for literature. He was influenced by the work of Ernst Toller, and he was also inspired by music, thus his creation of musical plays in collaboration with Kurt Weil and Hand Eisner. In the last few remaining years of Brecht's life, he studied various languages which influences him as well as German playwrights. 
According to academic.evergreen.edu. there a few differences of epic theatre vs. dramatic theatre. The differences are shown in the opposing characteristics of both the types. 
"Here are some characteristics of dramatic theatre: 
·       Plotted
·       Suggestion 
·       The spectator is in the middle of things and shares the experience with the audience
·       Unalterable human being
·       Growth  
·       One scene makes another
·       Thinking determines being  
·       They build up to an ending- which is the most important part" (academic.evergreen.edu)

 Now lets have a look at some characteristics of epic theatre: 
·       It is completely scripted 
·       The characters within the scene narrate and comment on the scene 
·       The entire scene is like a build up in itself- there isn't any important ending. 
·       Montage 
·       The scene are one in itself, it isn't part of anything as a whole. So, its not that you have to watch every single scene to understand the "play" because each scene is a play itself. 
·       Audience are allowed to exit in and out of the play, they can eat while they watch or leave for a coffee break, etc. It is not required for them to sit throughout the entire play because the have the freedom to enter and exit. 

Some visible impacts of Brecht's work in contemporary theatre include: masks and puppetry, use of technology in theatre (lighting, sound, etc), acting in third person, use of music, having actors describe what they're doing- outside of of the script- a narrator somewhat, signs or projections to give a prologue of what's going to happen in the forthcoming scene, also gestures were improved and used more variedly during acting. His practices greatly impacted theatre in all western country's. 

Bibliography: 


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)