Quarter 4

The World of Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht

To understand a character is to understand its given circumstances; to understand why Brecht conceptualized a new form of theatre we should investigate the world in which lived.

As playwright wrote over 50 plays. As director developed a directing style and design aesthetic which work in concert to create a new theatrical experience.
German, b1898 – d1956
- Mother Protestant, father Catholic. Knowledge of bible.
- Wealthy middle class

- Studied medicine to avoid German WWI draft. Later studied theatre @ Munich University by 1917, admired Frank Wedekind (another playwright contemporary).
  - Drafted in 1918, assigned medical orderly. War ended a month later.
- Inspired by Karl Valentin, political cabaret [Agitprop] comedian. Brecht: “Virtually complete rejection of mimicry and cheap psychology”. This is how he describes Constantin Stanislavski's work.
- Preferred historical verisimilitude: Theatrical design should be accurate to epoch
- Redefinition of "audience" to "spectators": an audience is passive, spectators are involved. Spectators were raucous and loud during performance
- Adapted Edward II, first of many adaptations. Developed his concept of ‘epic theatre’ from the staging of these plays.
  - Lehrstücke Plays, or learning plays. Brecht: “Not the play, but what they can learn is important”. Morals (inside right/wrong) and Ethics (outside right/wrong).

“[Brecht] aimed to achieve a sharpened awareness of their own social situation, with the underlying goal to change and improve this situation"

(Style for Actors)

- Wrote a movie, Mysteries of a Barbershop. One of the most important films in German history. Excellent commentary on pre-Nazi German society.
- Marxist. “When I read Marx’s Das Kapital, I understood my plays (Brecht). ” Aimed at educating workers on Socialist ideology
- In pursuit of Distancing Effect, incorporated music. With Kurt Weill (composer) created Three Penny Opera. Nazis hated the Epic form: would blow whistles, throw stink bombs throughout performances
- Brecht family fled persecution in February 1933. Denmark, Finland, Sweden, US in 3 May 1941.
- One screenplay for Hollywood, Hangmen Also Die! Funded his artform.

Blacklisted and interrogated by the House of Un-American Activities Committee; testified he was never part of the Communist Party (which was the truth).
Returned to Germany, founded the Berliner Ensemble with wife Helene Weigel
Berliner then known for long, meticulous rehearsals lasting several months
After exile, Brecht wrote no new material

An Introduction to Brechtian Theatre, by National Theatre

Epic Theatre Form

Epic Theatre is social/political, the aim to educate spectator
Epic is written in allegory and parable
Rational Thought: Play should not cause the spectator to emotionally connect with characters (or action). Instead, play should provoke rational self-reflection and critical view of character (or action)
Unlike Realism, catharsis is passive (plays were anti-climactic); Epic should provoke change (catharis) in world at large
Scene structure within play is episodic leading to non-linear, fractured plots. Think watching Friends episodes out of order.
Distancing Effect is used to pull audience back to rational thought. Think of a toolbox full of theatrical devices.
Roles are superficial but not shallow. Characterization and performance is in service of the Distancing Effect.
- The Narrator, Guide or Host (NGH)
- The Players in the Ensemble

First Thanksgiving by Saturday Night Live tackles a tough rational thought with a carefully balanced allegory.

What's the difference? --->

Theatrical Propaganda (or AgitProp) is a Soviet-created form that was used to proliferate bias and non-truth. Before Brecht, it was persuasive, passionate and one-sided. Instead, think of Epic Theatre as a telescope: the artist is inviting its spectators to observe a truth/perspective, not an opinion.

los_vendidos.mp4

This is one of my favorite plays, Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez performed by Teatro Campesino. The characterization is precisely Epic; the rational thought is clear; the allegory is efficient. I did this play in college, although it wasn't as wonderful and unified as this production!

If Sharks Were Men by Boka Art Institute provides animated visuals for an essay of the same name by Brecht.

Using ALL conventions from all forms of theatre, the purpose is the efficient communication of Truth.

Beyond Brecht

The Meta-Play. Brecht brought our awareness to the "play of our lives", within which actors made plays. He gave us permission to acknowledge the real, real reality of theatre:

The Audience is Aware of

the performer's awareness that

they are indeed performing in a theater, and many people are watching.

Because we have they're attention, Brecht wanted to deliver a message and make it provoking enough, entertaining enough, and hard-hitting enough that a spectator is moved to action.

Five Truths: Bertolt Brecht.mp4

National Theatre's 5 Truths: Brecht. "This video features two films from the Five Truths installation that focus on a Bertolt Brecht influenced approach to the character of Ophelia."

Removing and/or Enhancing the NGH

Acknowledgement of the Meta-Play - and exploring its purpose - has yielded many branches of the theatre tree (and continues to). We have something to say about our experience on the planet, and we're going to create an allegory to help you understand. And if you need help or get lost, we have a guide (and tricks) to remind you we have something to say.

What kind of allegories you use is up to you.

Some use one kind per play, like stand up. Or Dance. Or Realistic Acting.
Some use many different kinds per play.

How many allegories you use is up to you.

Some use one per play. Some use multiple.

How present the NGH is (and the Meta-Play) is up to you. Some forms enhance its presence, some remove it entirely.

Enhanced:

Solo performance/stand-up comedy (Anna Deavere Smith, Laurie Anderson, Eric Bogosian, Danny Hoch, Spaulding Gray, John Leguizamo)
Improvisation (Second City, Groundlings, Improv Olympic, Upright Citizens' Brigade)
Verbatim (Moises Kaufman, Robin Sloans)

Removed:

Theatre of the Absurd (Beckett, Ionesco, Genet, Weiss, M.I. Fornes)
Surrealism/Dadaist theatre (Hanke, Jarry, Sartre, Kane)
Theatre of Cruelty (Artaud, Camus)
Musical Theatre (Rodgers/Hammerstein, Jerome Lee, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lin-Manuel Miranda)
Viewpoints (Anne Bogart, Tina Landau, Tadashi Suzuki*)

*Suzuki works with Bogart and Landau to evolve Viewpoints but his work - based in the Japanese Noh form - doesn't necessarily adhere to Brecht's teachings.

Aphasia by Marc Applebaum is a performance of gesture choreographed to sounds on a pre-recorded tape. To the right is the sheet music. -->

Solo Performance

As the performance style implies, this technique features one performer onstage, typically sharing personal content in the form of narrative (telling a story), but some allegory in solo performance really goes off the deep end. Performers include Eric Bogosian, John Leguizamo, Laurie Anderson, Danny Hoch.

Spaulding Gray performing Swimming to Cambodia (above)Anna Deavere Smith performing Four American Characters (below)

Dadaist-inspired media by Opera Theatre Oregon

The Viewpoints Method. With the ability to leave Realistic Acting behind, modern practitioners are finding more efficient use of performance and allegory to create another theatrical experience. With its approach closer to dance than realistic acting, the nine viewpoints give the actor tools that acknowledge pretense and find efficiency of expression to the spectators.

National Theatre's 5 Truths: Artaud. "This video features two films from the Five Truths installation that focus on an Antonin Artaud influenced approach to the character of Ophelia."
Below, Play (1967) by Samuel Beckett