EPIC THEATRE

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EPIC THEATRE
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EPIC THEATRE

• Epic Theatre was a term coined by Bertolt
  Brecht, (1898-1956) the greatest German director
  and playwright of the first half of the Twentieth
  Century.

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EPIC THEATRE

• As a Marxist who witnessed the rise of Nazism, he
  was worried about the ways in which Art and
  Theatre were being used to keep the ordinary
  people entertained but powerless.

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EPIC THEATRE

• In response to the way ordinary people were
  learning to read the new medium of film
  (especially the inspirational editing techniques
  pioneered by the Russian Director, Sergei
  Eisenstein) Brecht took a radical new look at
  theatre.

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EPIC THEATRE

• Over the years Brecht devised a form of theatre
  which he called Epic and contrasted this with
  the established classical form of theatre which
  he called Dramatic.
• The terms are borrowed from Aristotles Poetics,
  written in the Fourth Century BC.

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Epic vs.Dramatic Theatre

• The following is a list of the main differences
  between the two types of theatre

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Dramatic Epic

• Plot has a beginning, middle and end and issues
  raised are all resolved.
• Implicates spectator in stage situation suggests
  the play is a slice of life.

• Narrative begins anywhere, continues and stops.
  Issues are raised clearly, not resolved.
• Turns spectator into an observer but suggests
  spectator can question what s/he is seeing.

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Dramatic Epic

• Wears down the spectators capacity for action.
• Provides the audience with sensations a theatre
  of illusion where received ideas are reinforced.

• Arouses the spectators capacity for action.
• Forces audience to take decisions makes it clear
  that there are problems to be solved.

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Dramatic Epic

• The spectator is involved in something.
• Suggestion.
• Instinctive feelings are preserved
• The spectator is in the thick of it, sharing the
  experience as it happens.

• The spectator is made to face something
• Argument
• Brought to the point of recognition.
• The spectator stands outside and studies,
  observing a presentation of what happened.

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Dramatic Epic

• The human being is taken for granted.
• The human being is unalterable preconceptions
  are reinforced.
• One scene makes another see plot.

• The human being is the object of enquiry.
• The human being can alter and be altered change
  of self and world shown as possible.
• Each scene for itself see narrative.

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• Interval

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Dramatic Epic

• Growth events follow each other in a smooth
  progression.
• Linear development.
• Human being as a fixed point.
• Thought determines being.

• Montage events are shown in self contained
  scenes.
• Broken up.
• A human being as a process.
• Social being determines thought.

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Dramatic Epic

• Feeling a theatre where the audience can allow
  itself to indulge in emotions.

• Reason a theatre where the audience is made to
  question and to think.

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Epic Theatre

• Congratulations! You have now reached the end of
  this presentation.
• Dont forget to remember to learn how to think!