Bertold Brecht

Bertold Brecht

Part 1: Historical Context of Brecht's life (Major Events, Geography, etc.) & simple Biography
Bertolt Brecht was born, on 19th February 1898,in Augsburg, Germany. He majored in philosophy and medicine at the University of Munich. He completed this before becoming a medical orderly in a German military hospital during the First World War. This was one of the reasons why he later on he hated wars which influenced his plays aswell. Brecht had a controversial life since as early age. He used to portray heated topics through theatre in Nazi Germany for which he was soon kicked out of the country. He moved to U.S.A where he started Epic theatre. He used social and economic problems and portrayed it in his films there. He was sent to court a few times where he was on trial for his work. He changed the face of theatre and completely showed a different side of it. He believed that theatre should have meaning and that theatre can change people. His principles and ideas impacts modern day theatre and also new play writers. He died at the age of 54.

Part 2: Brecht's Major Influences & Beliefs 
Charlie Chaplin and Karl Marx majorly influenced Brecht. Most of his ideas were gained from Marxism. Indirectly, the Roman theatre also influenced Brecht since at that time there was no class difference. Everyone was allowed to go the stadium to watch the plays. Brecht thought that the theatre was for everyone and also that theatre should mean something and he wanted to make a difference through his plays. Russian director Konstantin Stanislavsky encouraged Brecht’s epic theatre.

Part 3: Major Tenets/Characteristics of EPIC THEATRE

The major characteristics of Epic theatre are that the audience was not the typical high class audience since anyone and everyone was allowed in the theatre since during that time only the high-class people were allowed in the theatre but Brecht changed that. Majority of the epic Theatre plays didn't give away everything since the audience had to think on their own. In the theatre the audience members were allowed to eat, drink and smoke. The actors had to portray the character. Brecht wanted to challenge and shake people up rather than make them "enjoy" the play. One of the major characteristics was the fact that he used the alienation effect. This would distract the audience and freak them out which would make them think logically. Epic theatre is the shorter form of "Episodic" theatre which basically means that in the play, they portray a major issue throughout but in episodes. Each episode can be from different time frames for example, it can star with day 1 and then off to day 50 and then back to day 3 but it is still about that one issue so that the audience does not get lost.  Brecht wanted the audience to be uncomfortable while watching his plays since he believed that everyone was too comfortable already and therefore during the span of time the audience was watching his plays, they would always be at the edge of their seats.  Epic theatre had no illusions either since Brecht did not want to compete with films. If anything on the stage was changed or moved around, it was right in front of us rather than in illusions. This was completely different than any other play.
Part 4: Major differences of EPIC THEATRE vs. dramatic theatre of the time
The first difference as I have mentioned before was the fact that everyone was allowed to be in the theatre not just high-class people. Dramatic theatre used illusions and the actors had to portray their character by completely changing. Epic theatre was different because everything was obvious and right in front of you. The lights in the theatre were on at all times and if any prop or stage had to change, it was done right in front of the audience rather than in an illusion. In dramatic theatre, if it has a good budget, there are expensive props, which are “perfect” for the scene, but in Epic theatre Brecht used any props he could find and he had cheap, low-cost props for all of his plays. The actors were there to tell the story not to create characters through illusions and skills. Also, epic theatre poked fun in everyday life problems in society, which were very controversial around that time. Since he used alienation, the goal was to make the audience freaked out or change internally since all the plays were set to give a message. Most of his plays left the audience speechless.Dramatic theatre and different scenes but epic theatre had different episodes in the same play. Dramatic theatre did not have a chorus but Brecht was influenced by Shakespeare aswell therefore he used a chorus in his plays to give the audience the overviews.

Part 5: Impact of Brecht's work in contemporary theatre

Brecht's influence on the contemporary theatre has been good and problematic too. Brecht’s use of formalist techniques in the form of entertainment has made his life difficult in socialist countries due to his Marxist views.  Brecht’s settings and costumes of his productions have most influenced the contemporary theatre. The modern contemporary design exhibits in many ways the influences of his staging. Not just his staging, his unique sense of theatre and style has shown the world a completely different view on theatre. Theatre made a difference in people’s lives and it was much more than enjoyment, it was learning. Brecht made it possible for theatre to make a difference.

Works Cited

1.   Bradford, Wade. About.com Inventors. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://plays.about.com/od/playwrights/a/brecht.htm>.

2.   The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Epic Theatre (dramatic Genre)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/189683/epic-theatre>.

3.   "The Influence Of Brecth." Brandeis. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~jamesf/goodwoman/brecht_influence.html>.