Should they feel “alienated” from the performance, this meant a job well done for Brecht. This idea of engaging was only possible in Brecht’s mind, were his audience able to think critically about what they were seeing. So, many of his motivations for Epic Theatre spurned from the fact that he wanted people to be engaged politically, both locally and nationally. When Brecht began writing and directing, World War II was looming. However, the practitioners parted ways, as Stanislavski desired his audiences to become submerged in the emotion of a play, Brecht felt that the audience could learn more if they were kept separate from the emotions created on stage. Brecht especially did not agree with the shallow, and inflated nature of melodrama, or its simple goal to simply entertain the audience. Both Brecht and Constantin Stanislavski (another well know theatre practitioner of the time) used Epic Theatre to make a push back against melodrama when their acting methodologies were devised. It is important to note that though Epic Theatre gained influence from other genres, such as Theatre of the Absurd, Theatre of Cru-elty, Expressionism, and Surrealism, however, it is unique in and of itself. So what is Epic Theatre?įirst and foremost, Epic theatre is a reaction to the 19th century melodrama. What we must understand is that Brecht subscribed to a very specific type of theatre, called Epic Theatre, and then added elements that were unique to his needs and wants for theatre. However, when people use "Brechtian" in these ways, they are using it incorrectly. It has become a sort of blanket statement for all theatre that is different than traditional. Often, they are implying that piece of theatre is non-traditional, and in fact, acknowledges that it is theatre. When most people use the term it is in their description of a piece of theatre. Everyone loves to throw around the term "Brechtian".
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