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Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) (Germany (1930s (German Communist Party (estd.…
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)
Dramaturg
Augsburg
Munich
Berlin
Collaboration with Erwin Piscator in 1920s
Proletriches Volksbuhne
(Working Class People's Theatre)
converted stage into a 'play machine'
revolving stage
projections screens
including on ceiling and at the rear
floor made of glass to allow light from below
half-curtains
placards
loudspeakers
Theatre as a public meeting
Theatre as Parliament
Audience to discuss scenes during performance
Post-performance discussion
Germany
1930s
Heightened class contradictions
German Communist Party
estd. 1918
largest communist party outside Soviet Union
Hitler/ Nazi party
assumes power in 1933
Brecht worked in an atmosphere of mobilisation
Context
High inlfation
High unemployment
Large resistance through trade unions
Tradition of working class theatre
Red Troupe of the KPD
Theorist of Theatre
German Theatre
'star' system
according to Brecht
it held the stage to be an "illusion"
creates "fourth" wall
audience imagines action on stage to be reality
Not a communist
but communist sympathiser
Argued for a Art for Empowerment
Expose exploitation
Distinctions
Epic Theatre/ Dialectical Theatre
induct critical attitude in the spectator
repudiates catharsis
revolutionary
world is changeable
human beings are agents of change
consolidates rebelliousness
humanizes the oppressed
treats the audience as capable to critical thought
spectator says
I've never thought of that
That's extraordinary
Suffering of the character appalls me as it is unnecessary
It's got to stop
Pedagogic function
so entertaining
understanding generates pleasure
Breaks unities
slides
film projections
placards
banners
songs
Encourages and enables spectator to compare and contrast scenes with each other and with reality
Alienation Effect
set design
use of technical devices
break the action
stage machinery made visible
scripting
narrative > plot
actors comment on action
songs
performance
breaks "Fourth Wall"
Gestus
Not all gests are social gests. The attitude of chasing way a fly is not yet a social gest, though the attitude of chasing away a dog may be one, for instance if it comes to represent a badly dressed man's continual battle against watchdogs. One's efforts to keep one's balance on a slippery surface result in a social gest as soon as falling down would mean 'losing face'; in other words, losing one's market value .... the social gest is the gest relavant to society, the gest that allows conclusions to be drawn about the social circumstances.
Aristotelian/ Dramatic Theatre
catharsis
status-quoist
world preordained
gods control
eliminates emotions
spectator not to be involved in action
defends hierarchical society
looks upon oppressed as incapable of critical thought
Spectaors says
Yes, I have felt like that too
It will never change
demagogic function
so entertaining
conformity generates pleasure
Follows unities
Brecht's critique of Aristotle
Theatre should consolidate and channelise contrary emotions
Play not a closure
but initiation of discussion
present
reality as exploitative
mobilise
invite the audience to organise
arouse
world/ power relationship as created by humans
changeable
it the exploited will overthrow the structures of exploitation
analyse
who is exploited
who is the exploited
Catharsis
purges 'harmful' emotions
'harmful' to the powerful classes
Caucasian Chalk Circle
Prologue
Rosa Luxemburg fruit-growing Kolchos
Calinsk goat-herders Kolchos
Grusha
Arts for Arts Sake (Aestheticism)
Artistic position
Interpretative position
All Art is Political
Interpretative position
Arts for a Purpose
Artistic position