Bertolt Brecht
1898-1956
EPIC THEATRE
using
Verfremdungseffekt
(AKA the V-effect, Making strange, Distancing, Alienation)
“The
actor is not Lear
He shows Lear.”
Verfremdungseffekt:
through
Brecht was
against naturalistic theatre where the audience “hang up their brains with
their hats in the cloakroom.”
“The V-effect is to make the spectator adopt an attitude of inquiry and criticism in his approach to the incident.
No attempt is made to put the stage (and the audience) in a trance.”
Everyday Examples of the V-Effect:
“Witnesses of an accident demonstrating to newcomers how the victim behaved, a
facetious person imitating a friend's walk”…..
Stage Example: “Chinese Theatre”
Aids
to achieve this technique:
“1.
Transposition into the third person.
2.
Transposition into the past.
3. Speaking the
stage directions out loud.”
“Addressing
the audience direct” as both actor and character.
Stage “purged from anything magical”
Use of half
curtains
“Making
visible the sources of light”
Using signs at
the start of scenes
Fixing
From the first rehearsals, the Cast
forms opinions of the incidents or characters they are playing.
Ie
for what social purpose they
are performing this particular historical event.
These opinions, once “fixed”, then
determine the acting style for each character and event.
Gest
“Gesture
with attitude”.
To
be able convey the intentions of the performance
Either
by the whole picture, a single gesture or voice inflection
Example of Gest
Gesture=
“Soldiers marching across a stage.”
Gest=
“Soldiers marching over wounded and dead across a stage”
Spass
“Fun” / Satire…Grotesque
Stereotypes.
The audience is being invited to laugh at
these characters and ultimately condemn what they stand for.
(In
rehearsal, to find a stereotype; explore the character from the outside-in.)
Grotesque contrasted with Sympathetic
down-to-earth characters
(both
are making political statements to the audience and one shows up the other)
Multi-media
Brecht believed
in using Acting, Dance, Music, Song, Mask, Chorus, Signs & film
Projection…
Not
Combined, but Montaged in their own right.
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BRECHT'S EPIC THEATRE IN DETAIL
ACTING, DESIGNING, PLAYWRIGHT, LIGHTING, DIRECTING, COMPOSING
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Epic Acting |
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Demonstrates rather then imitates past tense, stage directions Gestures used to indicate inner feelings- stage pictures
preparation of characters on stage address the audience
external acting
physicality- gesture used to indicate inner
feelings
ensemble swap roles to evaluate characters
|
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Epic Designer |
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dispense with illusion and symbolism
no 'fourth wall'
minimal props
set change in view of audience one prop per person- representative
using half curtains
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Epic Playwright |
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structured episodically
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Epic Lighting |
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The lighting director in Epic theatre needs to abandon the idea of hiding sources of light to achieve a mysterious effect to draw the audience into the action.
Brecht flooded the stage with 'harsh white light', regardless of where the action was taking place and leaving the stage lamps in full view of the audience.
Obvious lighting constantly reminds the audience they are watching a play.
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Epic Director |
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An Epic director decides the blocking for the actor, which is done not for formal beauty.
Brecht wanted directors to block so it clarifies the structure of the human relationships in the play.
Brecht wanted to use everything on the stage to make the audience develop a more critical attitude.
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Epic composer |
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The composer in Epic theatre is very important as Brecht intentionally interrupts the action at 'key junctures', with songs to get the message across.
The composer should express his ideas of the plays themes independently and provide a seperate comment on the action about themes and ideas.
Music helps distance the audience by not reinforcing the text but to provide a counterpoint to the action on the stage.
The words and tunes clash which draws atention to the words.
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Aims
(two essentials)...
The message must be clear