Brecht's Life 2

Bertolt Brecht was influenced by the writings of Karl Marx and devised his own techniques to allow him to express his ideas through these Marxist principles.

It was this interest in Marxism - and the idea that man and society could be intellectually ‘analysed’ - that led him to develop his new techniques. These techniques include the alienation effect (verfremdungseffekt), didacticism, breaking the fourth wall, gestus, narration and the use of song.  All these different techniques together create the Brechtian theory of Epic Theatre.

Bertolt Brecht's approach to the theatre was the most important alternative to the Stanislavsky style ‘realism’ acting and the “well-made play” construction that dominated playwriting.

Brecht believed that theatre should not appeal to the spectator's feelings - but to his reason. It should be ‘didactic’ and capable of provoking social change. In the Stanislavsky ‘Realist’ theatre of illusion the spectator identified with the characters on stage and become emotionally involved with them rather than think about their own life – but Brecht wanted to make the audience adopt a ‘critical’ attitude to what was happening on stage and his ‘alienation effect’ made use of anti-illusion techniques to remind the spectators that they were in a theatre, watching a copy of reality, and not reality itself.

One technique was flooding the stage with harsh lighting and leaving the stage lamps in the view of the audience; another technique was making use of minimal props and scenery; another was interrupting the action at vital moments (with songs) in order to drive home an important message and projecting explanatory captions onto a screen or using placards.  Brecht did not want realism from his actors - but an objective style of playing - to become detached observers.

Brecht's most important plays include The Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children and The Good Person of Szechwan.  These plays were written between 1937 and 1945 when he was living outside Germany because his communist sympathies made him an enemy of Hitler and the Nazi party.

In 1949, after the end of the WWII, Brecht was invited by the new East German government, to lead his own theatre troupe, the Berliner Ensemble.  It was through their productions of his plays that Brecht earned his reputation as one of the most important figures of contemporary theatre and his techniques have influenced the development of theatre in every western country during the 20th century.

Brecht's Life 1

BERTOLT BRECHT 1898 - 1956

Bertolt Brecht was born in the city of Augsburg, Germany in 1898; his home life was comfortable and middle-class. His mother was a devout Protestant and the Bible was a significant influence in his young life.  He was not a strong or healthy child and so at the start of World War I he avoided being sent into the army but served in a local military hospital where he witnessed terrible suffering and human misery.

Along with many others, he was unhappy with the political system in post-war Germany and became interested in the works of Karl Marx (1818-1883) and his ideas of socialism and communism. During this period he developed a strongly anti-bourgeois attitude that reflected his generation's disappointment in the values of the current German society that had been responsible for the war and for the turmoil that followed it.  At university, Brecht lost interest in his medical studies and turned towards drama and began writing his own plays dealing with political issues.

Brecht’s early career as a dramatist developed alongside the period of the Weimar Republic in Germany, when politics became more and more extreme between the left and the right.  When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, because Brecht was seen as a dangerous communist supporter, his works were publicly burned and he was forced to go into exile in Denmark to protect his family.  During the early years of World War II he continued to remain in Europe and moved to Sweden and then Finland - until 1941 when he went to the United States.

In the US he continued to oppose Hitler and the Nazis until their defeat in 1945.  However, following the war, a communist scare swept the US and Brecht was a well-known communist sympathiser.  In October 1947 he was forced to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, even though he was not an official member of the American communist party. Brecht left the United States the very next day.

He soon travelled to East Berlin, now under the control of Joseph Stalin and the USSR and in 1949 set up the Berliner Ensemble with full support from the communist government.  His play Mother Courage and Her Children was the Berliner Ensemble's inaugural production. Brecht died of a heart attack in August 1956.

Initial response to 'The Price'

I found the ideas in this drama by Lena Kitsopoulou very surreal and challenging. I believe that it will be great fun to work with this text, and to develop and use Brechtian techniques within the play.  I think the play is cleverly written, topical and portrays society’s materialism in a very unique and disturbing way.  The core idea of the play (buying a baby from a supermarket) can be seen as critical of the superficiality of consumerism.

The theme could be very literal, meaning buying a baby in a supermarket; if this is the case then play deals with very modern ideas about the changing role of families.  Alternatively, it could be subtly showing that the cost of a raising a baby comes with the external expenses; nappies, food, and formula and concerns the difficult decisions to be made before starting a family.  If this is the case then it reflects the current economic climate in Europe, and as the currency discussed is Drachmas (former Greek currency) I believe it is reflecting the recent economic depression in Greece. 

I enjoyed reading the play, and found that its morality is displayed very superficially, similar to the work of Bertolt Brecht.  The opening line is delivered by the character ‘MAN’, which I believe reflects an imagined social hierarchy.  The whole play reveals some very disturbing topics to the audience and I believe the playwright portrayed these topics perfectly; not loading too much guilt on to the audience’s conscience but provoking them to consider some unpleasant aspects of contemporary society.

Lesson 2

During this lesson we learnt about Brechtian characterisation; to understand this, we performed an exercise in which we were given a character name that contained an adjective.  We then had to create a physical posture and voice that would suit this character.  My character name was Ted Tedious (a pub landlord).

I found this exercise very useful, as it allowed me to actually involve myself in Brechtian characterisation techniques and this enabled me to understand how to perform these techniques, and why they are vital for a young actor to master. I also gained an insight into what Brecht was trying to achieve through his development and use of stereotypical characters.

From this exercise I have understood that Brectian characters are two-dimensional and deliberately try to alienate the audience from the drama. They achieve this because they prevent the audience from connecting to intimate character traits by creating emotional detachment.

Bertolt Brecht used very specific names for characters to give clues about their class, personality and occupation.  The name and physicality help the audience to define the characters and gives them direct information without depending on the dialogue.

BRECTIAN TECHNIQUE: GESTUS

Definition – A combination of gesture and attitude.

www.kentaylor.co.uk/die/drama_UK/Brecht/Gestus_Workshop.doc

Brecht Workshop

Brecht was famous for a particular style of acting called GESTUS. The combination of gesture and facial expression and body language is deliberately used to create meaning and communicate a message to the audience. The actor carefully uses GESTUS to provoke debate and educate the audience.

An example of Gestus - e.g. A solider walking across the stage does not have much meaning, fill the stage with dead bodies and make the soldiers walk over them looking ahead and the meaning becomes much more powerful – uncaring soldiers / soldiers deadened to the horror of war (etc).

Gestus can include the whole picture that these gestures make.

Gestus is a really important tool in the actor’s repertoire as it allows them to portray a character with great precision and intimacy; in a way it is ironic that Brecht developed this technique because he believed in creating two-dimensional characters to alienate his audience.  Gestus lets the audience know a characters feelings through their on-stage gestures, this means that gestus can only occur with an actor reacting to other objects or people on stage.

Lesson 1

Exercise Evaluation

Moody Objects

The class walked around the room in a normal manner until the teacher called out a number.  When this was called we had to get into groups of this number.  Then the teacher would call out an object and an emotion.  For example ‘5’ and ‘an angry motorbike.’  Through facial expressions and physicality we had to create this object and try and portray the emotion as well.  This exercise helps to develop something that Brecht believed strongly in.  He believed that the audience shouldn’t get to involved in the play, and they should at all times remember that they are watching a play.  I found this exercise very interesting, and I believe it helped further my knowledge of Brecht’s dramatic ideologies.  It helped me to grasp the ideas of ‘Verfremdungseffekt’ and I started to understand why he wanted there to be specific moments of alienation, I believe that it is used almost as a reality check.  This is because if people go to the theatre they normally go to escape the normal world, however Brecht had very strong political ideologies, and he wanted people to never lose sight of the truth.

Exercise Evaluation

Daily tasks

I found this exercise very interesting, as I believe it allows an actor to explore the amount of information needed for a play to capture an audiences mind.  This exercise consisted of miming daily tasks, as simple as making a sandwich, and performs this to the audience.  The first time we did this with narration, and then performed it again with no narration.  From what I observed when it is silent the audience question it, however if it is narrated the audience find the plot simple to understand.  This lesson also taught us that Brecht wanted the plot to be understood by everyone, and therefore the Brechtian choice would have been to narrate.   

Brecht's life and ideas

Bertolt Brecht was born 10 February 1898, and died 14 August 1956.  He was a very influential German poet, playwright, theatre director and practitioner.  Brecht's attitude was that we should take nothing for granted, no matter how insignificant.  I believe this is what made his theatre so new and innovative.

Brecht’s main objective was to make his audience ask questions, and examine life and society.  The main idea that separated Brecht from other practitioners during this era was that he always wanted people to know that they were watching a play.  Brecht was strongly against the existing idea of the ‘suspension of disbelief.’

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief