Bertolt Brecht'

Bertolt Brecht'

- Brecht was both a playwright, producer and director of his own and other peoples plays

- His theatrical theories came from Marxist notion

"Marxism is a method of socio-economic analysis, originating from the mid-to-late 19th century works of German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, that analyzes class relations and societal conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development and a dialectical view of social transformation."

- He was influenced by expressionism 

- He was convinced that theatre should be an agent of social and political change

- Brecht wanted theatre to be a slap in the face

Some of Brecht's techniques:

- Song

- Gestus

- Placards

- Robotic or dreamlike movement

- Voice and movement not matching

- Speaking as if quoting

- Humour in sad scenes

- Directly addressing the audience

- Actors exchanging roles/playing multiple roles

(This was all used to create the V affect)

The V Affect:

"The brechtian style of acting is acting in quotation marks"

Gestus:

- Expressing basic human attitudes. He wanted to create a style where expressing attitudes were stylized and made clear as suppose to Stanislavski techniques of working out what characters portray

- Making overt, grand but simple gestures. For example making it clear (perhaps overly apparent) the character feels despair

- The illusion of naturalistic disorder

My opinions on Brecht theatre:

I think he created amazing techniques to diversely make something clear. Although his methods are somewhat over the top they allow the audience to consider messages hidden behind a front or even what were are seeing at face value. Gestus is a way of showing emotion or intention and the idea of using this makes the audience consider is it real or a hidden way of communication? The V affect makes the audience aware they are watching a performance this allows us to consider a reflection of society and for audience members not to be emotionally connected to characters (this can be useful particularly in politically devised pieces). Instead I believe Brecht wants his audience members to notice the reflection he is making and have an opinion on it. Doing further research I realised politicians found Brechts political theatre was dangerous as it opened up the audiences eyes to perceive things differently to how they want (perhaps the politicians make things sugar-coated).