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Epic theatre

Theatrical genre

Summary

Theatrical genre

Historicisation

Historicization is also employed in order to draw connections from a historical event to a similar current event. This can be seen in the plays Mother Courage and Her Children and The Good Person of Szechwan, both written by Brecht, which comment on a current social or political issue using historical contexts.

Brecht, too, advised treating each element of a play independently, like a music hall turn that is able to stand on its own. Common production techniques in epic theatre include a simplified, non-realistic scenic design offset against a selective realism in costuming and props, as well as announcements or visual captions that interrupt and summarize the action. Brecht used comedy to distance his audiences from the depicted events and was heavily influenced by musicals and fairground performers, putting music and song in his plays.

Acting in epic theatre requires actors to play characters believably without convincing either the audience or themselves that they have "become" the characters. This is called Gestus when an actor takes on the physical embodiment of a social commentary. Actors frequently address the audience directly out of character ("breaking the fourth wall") and play multiple roles. Brecht thought it was important that the choices the characters made were explicit, and tried to develop a style of acting wherein it was evident that the characters were choosing one action over another. For example, a character could say, "I could have stayed at home, but instead I went to the shops." This he called "fixing the Not / But element".

Famous practitioners

  • Erwin Piscator
  • Vladimir Mayakovsky
  • Vsevolod Meyerhold
  • Bertolt Brecht
  • Friedrich Dürrenmatt
  • Heiner Muller

References

Sources

  • Gordon, Robert. 2017. "Brecht, interruptions, and epic theatre".
  • Brecht, Bertolt. 1949. "A Short Organum for the Theatre". Trans. John Willett. In Brecht (1964, 179–205).
  • Brecht, Bertolt. 1964. Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic. Ed. and trans. John Willett. British edition. London: Methuen. . USA edition. New York: Hill and Wang. .
  • Brecht, Bertolt. 1965. The Messingkauf Dialogues. Trans. John Willett. Bertolt Brecht: Plays, Poetry, Prose Ser. London: Methuen, 1985. .
  • Genet, Jean. 1966. Letters to Roger Blin. In Reflections on the Theatre and Other Writings. Trans. Richard Seaver. London: Faber, 1972. 7–60. .
  • Innes, Christopher 1972. Erwin Piscator's Political Theatre: The Development of Modern German Drama. New edition. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1977. .
  • Wiles, Timothy 1980. The Theatre Event. Chicago: Chicago University Press. .
  • Willett, John. 1964. Editorial notes. In Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic, by Bertolt Brecht. London: Methuen. . New York: Hill and Wang. .

References

  1. (7 September 2017). "Brecht, interruptions and epic theatre". British Library.
  2. Barnett, David. (2015). "Brecht". Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
  3. Wiles (1980).
  4. Innes (1972).
  5. Who is Brecht?
  6. Willett (1964) 281.
  7. Brown, Hilda Meldrum. (1991). "Leitmotiv and Drama". Clarendon Press.
  8. (11 March 2013). "Richard Wagner's Concept of the 'Gesamtkunstwerk'".
  9. Brecht (1949, 276).
  10. Quoted by Willett (1964) 282.
  11. (2015). "The Craft of Theatre: Seminars and Discussions in Brechtian Theatre". Bloomsbury Publishing.
  12. Genet (1966, 25).
  13. Gordon, Robert. (7 September 2017). "Brecht, interruptions, and epic theatre".
Wikipedia Source

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