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INTRODUCTION to BRECHT “The Audience Hang up Their Brains with Their Coats in the Cloakroom” Brecht and Unit 1

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INTRODUCTION to BRECHT “The Audience Hang up Their Brains with Their Coats in the Cloakroom” Brecht and Unit 1 INTRODUCTION TO BRECHT “The audience hang up their brains with their coats in the cloakroom” Brecht and Unit 1 • Unit 1 would be starting after the Easter break and it begins the process of devising in the style of a practitioner. We will be using Brecht. Unit 1 is worth 40% of the final overall grade and you are expected to devise a performance (script it yourself), rehearse it, perform it and evaluate its success. The project is a long one, however it covers a large proportion of the grade. • Normally we would spend lessons, theoretically and practically exploring Brecht, his style, his techniques and putting them into practise. You can begin this process at home with the following two power-points. This work is very important to your overall grade in Drama. Please complete it. The internet has a wealth of knowledge about Brecht and I urge you to explore it to support your learning, in preparation for your return to school. Good luck. If you need me I am only an email away! [email protected] WATCH THE LINK BELOW ON YOU TUBE AND TAKE NOTES. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-828KqtTkA Then watch the National Theatre’s extracts taken from ‘Mother Courage’ written and produced in the style of Brecht https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6obtAUsju8 This will give you a fantastic understanding of how directors, designers and actors work together to achieve Brecht’s style. BRECHT Brecht was a playwright, a director of his own plays (and other people’s and an author on a lot of commentary on how theatre should be created. His theories changed during his life time LIFE AND BACKGROUND • Brecht was born on Augsburg, Germany in 1898 and lived there until the early 20’s. • He was born into a fairly affluent family and studied medicine at the University of Munich before returning to Augsburg and serving in an army hospital during the first World War. • He developed an anti-war sentiment in response to the horrors he witnessed. • He had an ‘anti-bourgeois’ attitude that reflected is anger at the way society had experienced war. • He had an interest in Marxism as a forward for the stability of Germany. • He developed an interest in the movement in art and literature known as Expressionism. Brecht in Exile • In the second phase of his writing Brecht started to explore the ideas of ‘Epic Theatre’ and the notion of instructions through plays. • He became a fully fledged Marxist and spoke out against the Nazi Party. • In 1933 Brecht was forced to go into exile to escape the Nazi’s. He travelled to Switzerland, Denmark and ended up in Hollywood. • In Germany his books were destroyed and his citizenship withdrawn. It was during this exile that he wrote most of his great plays, further developing the idea of ‘Epic Theatre’. Brecht’s return to Germany • In 1949 Brecht returned to a divided Germany where he formed his own company ‘The Berliner Ensemble’. • His contributions to Theatre and his significance as a theatre practitioner were eventually recognised in the 1950’s. KEY CONCEPTS • Brecht could be considered as someone concerned with distance, reason and thinking. • EPIC THEATRE • The VERFREMDUNGSEFFEKT EFFECT. (The alienation effect) • He wanted his audience to engage emotionally in a scene but be able to stand outside it, to think about it and make a judgement on it. The Actor • He felt his actors should ‘demonstrate’ rather than ‘become’ the role. • He saw them as storytellers, who could play many parts (multi-role) and have a view on the characters they were playing. • He saw character being determined by circumstances. Structure/Montage • The story itself could be fragmented, non-linear and episodic • He showed how theatre could be like expressionist art or film. Epic Theatre: Social or Political • Forces the audience to focus on a political or social topic. • It asks then to consider a debate surrounding that topic with the hope they will leave the theatre and react or take action. • Epic theatre makes it clear there are problems to be solved and asks the audience to take decisions. • The debate is always non-biased and will present both sides of the picture. Therefore the performance is dialectical, presenting an argument with all sides shown. Staging: An anti-illusionary approach to theatre • Brecht wanted the mechanics of his theatre to be shown to the audience. • He did not want his audience to ‘suspend their disbelief’ but to always know that they were watching fiction. • Placards and projections were used to transition scenes quickly. • Lighting was used to illuminate only, not to create mood and atmosphere. Examples of his staging. Music and Song • Brecht encouraged music and song within his plays. These were not musicals but he felt theatre should entertain. • Also, music provoked more objective viewing from the audience. Techniques used: • The alienation effect / Political or social attitudes. • Breaking the fourth wall • Narration / direct address • Placards/Projections • The use of Gest • Choral Speaking • Music and Song • Non-bias • Minimalistic staging / expressionist / symbolic Next: • Start the second power-point. .
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