Bertolt Brecht

Background 

Bertolt Brecht, the playwright was born in 1898 in the town of Augsburg in Germany. After contributing to the First World War as a medical orderly and horrified by the effects of the war, he first when to Munich and then Berlin to pursuit a career in theatre. This part of his life ended in 1933 when Nazis took charge of Germany. He fled and during this period his citizenship was removed by the Nazis, so he was no longer a citizen, of any state.

The 1920s was the period in which he had written 3 plays: Drums in the Night, In the Jungle of the Cities and Baal. All of which had been directed by leading individuals in the theatre and drew in, like their author, their fair share of scandal.

In the 1920 he also adopted Marlowe's Edward the Second, published a number of short stories, directed his play A Man's a Man and took on his first collaboration with composers Kurt Weill in Mahagonny, then in after a short period the popular The Threepenny Opera, which was played for 500 performances.

Brecht became a US resident in 1941 but returned to Europe in 1947 after appearing before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Seemingly against communism, this committee targeted intellectuals as well. By the time of his death (1956), he had initiated the Berliner Ensemble and was considered as one of the most significant theatrical practitioners.

His writing began at an early age, which included poems, plays, stories, newspaper articles and theatre criticism. 

Brecht was influenced by a varied range of writers and practitioners which includes Chinese theatre and Karl Marx. The struggle Brecht lived through in his life provided him with a strong political voice. The hostility he faced is proof to the fact that he had the bravery to express his own voice to the world of theatre. He also had a unique and inspired talent to bring out a dynamic theatrical style to express his perspective.

His most admired work would have to be Mother Courage and Her Children. Even though it was set in the 1600s, the play was relevant to contemporary society and is frequently considered to be one of the finest anti-war plays. Brecht's Fear and Misery of the Third Reich is his most overtly anti-fascist play. This performance analyses the stealthy way Nazis took charge.




Why is he so important?

Bertolt Brecht made and shaped theatre in a manner that had a large impact upon its development. A wide range of his ideas were so revolutionary that they evolved the theatrical landscape for good. Modern theatre owes a great deal to his methods.

When naturalistic theatre was at its peak and mirrored the events occurring in society, he made the decision to use it as a force for adjustment. He wanted to push his audience to think and famously stated that theatre audience at the time "hang up their brains with their hats in the cloakroom."

In naturalistic or dramatic theatre the audience are concerned about the lives of the characters onstage. They lose track of their own lives for a while and escape into others lives. When an audience weeps for a character or feels emotion based on the events happening to the character, its called catharsis.

He was against cathartic theatre and believed that while the audience are persuaded by the action onstage and become emotionally involved they lose the capability to think and judge. He wanted his audiences to stay objective and avoid emotional involvement so that they will be able to make considered and logical assessments about any social statement or issues in his work. To accomplish this he utilized a variety of theatrical devices or techniques so that the audience were reminded while watching the play that it was just theatre; a display of life, not actual life itself. His type of theatre was called Epic theatre. He referred to the act of isolating the audience from emotional involvement the verfremdungseffekt. 



The 'v' effect 

The verfremdungseffekt is often called the alienation effect or the 'v' effect and there are numerioud ways of using it.

Brecht certainly wanted his audience to remain interested and engaged by the play, or else his message would be lost. He aimed to avoid emotional investment in the characters. His strategy in theatre fits work that has a political, social or moral message.

Epic theatre breaks the 4th wall, the imaginary wall that separates the actors and the audience and keeps them as observers. They are active members of the play as they are left thinking throughout, not switching off.



Brechtian staging

- Multi-rolling
- Split-role
- Minimal set/costume/props

Brecht believed in historicism as a custom of verfremdungseffekt. Even though there was minimalistic stage setting and mise-en-scene, there was a constant sense of authenticity to the elements in production, excluding a little lighting and sound.

- Symbolic props
- Simple lighting, so production value doesn't overshadow the message of play
- Song and Dance
- Montage, he knowingly borrowed the idea from silent movies



Spass and Gestus 

Spass- 
Translates to 'fun'. Bercht wanted to make his audience think and he realised that they were actually thinking while laughing. Brechtian work is not boring, but not always serious either. Even if they message he wants to portray is serious he realised that comedy is a great way of engaging the audience and pushing them to think about issues.

Spass was also a great way to break the tension. He needed to break the tension arising to stop the audience from engaging in the characters emotional journey. It could be used in the form of slapstick, a comic song or physical comedy or even stand up routines. Its 'silliness' is theory but constantly makes strong social comment in the method its used in handling a serious subject.


Gestus-
Another Brechtian technique, that uses clear character gesture/movement used by the actor that seizes a moment or attitude as opposed to delving into emotion. So each gesture was important. He didn't want the actors to be the characters onstage, just to show them as a sort of person.

The interpretation will be created on the character's social role and the reason for why they need to behave as they do, rather than looking internally at emotional motivation. So we form opinions on the character and their situation, as opposed to simply empathising with them.


Summary of Brecht's methods:
The Subject Matter- 
Narratives displaced in time and place
Political parables
Epic storytelling

The Political Purpose or Message or Dramatic Intention-
Strongly influenced by political ideals. Karl Marx
To induce in the audience a need for change
To keep the audience thinking

The Actor Audience Relationship-
The role of narrator. Direct address
The isolating of songs as a form of comment
The ending of illusion
The audience encouraged to smoke and drink

The Staging Form Adopted- 
The proscenium arch
Epic instead of dramatic
Swiftly changing scenes

Directorial Interpretation/Production Style- 
The director as part of a team
Use of music to comment on the action
Very refined and specific detail
Clear and carefully constructed stage pictures

Design Elements- 
Realistic selective detail
Very well-created props
Costumes made to look well worn

Role of Actors and Performance Style-
The actor in a role not a character
Actor is a demonstrator
Actor is main source of distancing
Use of gestus

Technical Elements-
Hard white light from visible source
Half-curtain
The revolve

Audience Response- 
To be alerted to the need for change
To observe as opposed to empathising 

References:

Drama and Theatre Studies --> Textbook

https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zwmvd2p/revision/1