BERTOLT

BRECHT

5 KEY

EPIC C

ONCEPTS

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EPIC THEATRE IS REALIST THEATRE. REALLY.Think of epic theatre as the “underside” of Naturalist

theatre.

What does this mean?

• Naturalism, as we know, is governed by paradoxes. (Can you remember what some of these are?)

• When those paradoxes begin to reveal themselves on stage, audiences are provoked to ask questions about the conditions that govern a play’s world and shape its characters.

• Epic theatre makes the paradoxes that are implicit in naturalist plays EXPLICIT in performance!

• Epic theatre audiences, like naturalism’s audiences, are invited to judge the characters on stage – but in a way that takes their historical, social, and material living conditions into account in a direct, critical way.

EPIC THEATRE VS NATURALISM: A KEY DISTINCTION

• Naturalism, because it is interested in characters’ biological and environmental conditions, tends to be interested in examining, with great care, how things are.

• Epic theatre, because it is interested in characters’ social, political, and economic conditions, tends to be interested in exploring, with a critical imagination, how things might change.

5 KEY CONCEPTS IN THE EPIC THEATRE

Plot versus Narrative

• Brecht believes plays should not be arranged sequentially, as though heading for an inevitable end.

• Brecht’s play structures are “dialectical”: they encourage us to see the characters and their experiences from multiple, constantly shifting points of view.

• this is why scenes are often arranged to contradict, or chafe against, one another!

5 KEY CONCEPTS IN THE EPIC THEATRE

The Verfremdungseffect (“make strange effect”)

• The V-effect describes the body of techniques by which Brecht pushes realism to be self-critical, aware of itself as theatre, aware of the processes through which it makes its claims to truth.

• The V-effekt exposes the paradoxes of realist theatre, and asks questions about them.

5 KEY CONCEPTS IN THE EPIC THEATRE

Acting “strange” (kinda like Buffy, in that song…)

• in Brecht’s theatre, actors “quote” emotions in order to “denaturalize” them

• this does not mean they do not show, or share, emotion!

• rather, they do not ask for our empathy, but instead demonstrate the reasons behind a character’s reactions, and the outcomes of those reactions.

5 KEY CONCEPTS IN THE EPIC THEATRE

“Gestus”

• a “gestus” is a look, action, or gesture that “explains the moment” by showing us both the specific human needs and wants of a character, as well as the events and circumstances that shape that character’s choices in a given scene.

• think about Kevin’s performance as Nina the Seagull in our first workshop. Think about how different characters repeatedly tugged on the string on his wrist. Think about what that tugging told you about his character’s circumstances in the performance.

• THAT is a great example of a “gestus”!

5 KEY CONCEPTS IN THE EPIC THEATRE

The epic spectator: a witness who questions

• Epic theatre stages at least two sides of an argument, turning “the spectator into an observer” (Brecht, “The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre” 37)

• Brecht’s goal is that epic theatre will “arouse [our] capacity for action” (37)

• in other words, the act of watching becomes a political gesture!

• we watch each other watching, and we watch the actors watching us. Perhaps we think about what it means to watch theatre, what theatre can teach us about our world, or encourage us to do once the show is over.