Epic Theatre

Epic Theatre (German: "epische Theater"), or epic theater, is a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of German playwright Bertolt Brecht. Although many of the theoretical concepts involved in Brechtian "Epic Theatre" had been around for years, even centuries, Brecht unified them, developed the style, and popularized it. Epic Theatre incorporates a style of acting known as "Brechtian acting" (gestus); its principles apply equally to the writing and production of plays. "Its qualities of clear description and reporting and its use of choruses and projections as a means of commentary earned it the name 'epic'." [Bertolt, Brecht "Brecht on Theatre", page 121.] Brecht later preferred the term Dialectical theatre, to emphasize the element of argument and discussion.

Goals of Epic Theatre

Epic Theatre assumes that the purpose of a play, more than entertainment or the imitation of reality, is to present ideas and invites the audience to make judgments on them. Characters are not intended to mimic real people, but to represent opposing sides of an argument, archetypes, or stereotypes. The audience should always be aware that it is watching a play, and should remain at an emotional distance from the action; Brecht described this ideal as the "Verfremdungseffekt" — variously translated as "alienation effect", "Defamiliarization effect", or "estrangement effect". It is the opposite of the suspension of disbelief: "It is most important that one of the main features of the ordinary theatre should be excluded from [epic theatre] : the engendering of illusion." [Bertolt, Brecht "Brecht on Theatre", page 122.]

Epic Theatre was a reaction against other popular forms of theatre, particularly the realistic drama pioneered by Konstantin Stanislavski. Like Stanislavski, Brecht disliked the shallow spectacle, manipulative plots, and heightened emotion of melodrama; but where Stanislavski attempted to engender real human behavior in acting through the techniques of his Stanislavski System, and through the actors to engage the audience totally into the world of the play, Brecht saw Stanislavsky's methodology as producing audience escapism. Brecht's own social and political focus departed also from surrealism and the Theatre of Cruelty, as developed in the writings and dramaturgy of Antonin Artaud, who sought to affect audiences viscerally, psychologically, physically, and non-rationally.

Techniques

Common production techniques in Epic Theatre include simplified, non-realistic set designs and announcements or visual captions that interrupt and summarize the action. Brecht used comedy to distance his audiences from emotional or serious events and was heavily influenced by musicals and fairground performers, putting music and song in his plays.

Acting in Epic Theatre requires actors to play characters believably without convincing either the audience or themselves that they are truly the characters. Actors often address the audience directly out of character ("breaking the fourth wall") and play multiple roles. Brecht thought it was important that the choices the characters made were explicit, and tried to develop a style of acting wherein it was evident that the characters were choosing one action over another. For example, a character could say, "I could have stayed at home, but instead I went to the shops."

Notes

See also

*Augusto Boal
*Bertolt Brecht
*Caryl Churchill
*David Edgar
*Experimental theatre
*Dario Fo
*Gestus
*Joan Littlewood
*Vladimir Mayakovsky
*John McGrath
*Modernism
*Erwin Piscator
*Political theatre
*Franca Rame
*
*Theatre Workshop
*Theatre of the Oppressed

External links

* [http://www1.usq.edu.au/artsworx/schoolresources/goodwomanofszechwan/epictheatre.htm Epic Theatre] – University of Southern Queensland Artsworx Resources on "The Good Woman of Setzuan".