Epic Theatre: An Estrangement from Art
Like art, theatre has its own movements and thinkings. From Stanislavski’s Naturalism to Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty we can see that not every theatre maker sees eye to eye when it comes to the execution and meaning of the art form. Often these differences were informed by political, social, and religious beliefs. One such practitioner fuelled by politics is Bertolt Brecht and his Epic Theatre. In today’s blog we’ll describe what this type of drama entails, techniques and devices that help to create this theatre, and who the man behind the movement is.
What is Epic Theatre?
In naturalistic or dramatic theatre the audience care about the existence of the characters onstage. They forget their own lives for a while and escape into the lives of others. When an audience cries for a character or feels emotion through the events happening to them it’s called catharsis.
Brecht was against cathartic theatre. He believed that while the audience became emotionally involved in the action onstage they lost the ability to think and to judge.
Brecht wanted his audiences to remain objective and distant from emotional involvement so that they could make considered and rational judgements about any social comment or issues in his work. To do this he used a range of theatrical devices or techniques so that the audience were reminded throughout that they were watching theatre; a presentation of life, not real life itself. His kind of theatre was called Epic theatre. He called the act of distancing the audience from emotional involvement the verfremdungseffekt.
The Verfremdungseffekt in Epic Theatre
Verfremdungseffekt, or the ‘estrangement effect,’ was used to distance the audience from the play and is sometimes called the alienation effect. Brecht did not want the audience to have any emotional attachment to his characters, so he did various things to break it.
Narration.
Sometimes the narrator will tell the audience what happens in the story before it has happened. If they already know the outcome, they become less emotionally attached.
Coming out of role / third person narration.
Actors would comment on their characters. Therefore, reminding the audience that they’re watching theatre.
Speaking the stage directions.
This device was used by Brecht more frequently in rehearsal than performance. It helps distance the actor from the character they’re playing. It also reminds the audience that they’re watching a play and forces them to study the actions of a character in objective detail.
Direct address.
Speaking directly to the audience breaks the fourth wall and destroys any illusion of reality.
Using placards.
A placard is a sign or additional piece of written information presented onstage.
Multi-roling/Split-role.
Multi-roling is when an actor plays more than one character onstage. Split-roling is where more than one actor plays the same character. For instance, the actor playing the main character might rotate from scene to scene. This keeps that character representational and stops any emotional involvement and attachment on the part of the audience.
Minimal set / costume / props.
Set, costume and props are all kept simple and representational. Elaborate costumes might mean that the sense of theatre, of pretending to be something else, was lost. What’s more, often one item was used in a variety of ways. A suitcase might become a desk, or a car door or a bomb.
Lighting.
Brecht believed in keeping lighting simple as he didn’t want the production values to overshadow the message of the work. He believed in using harsh white light as this “illuminates the truth.” Fundamentally, the important thing is that the audience still see the theatre, so often they will see production personnel, such as backstage crew, in action on the stage rather than hidden.
Song and dance.
This is a good way to ensure that the audience sees the theatre and are reminded of the fact they are watching a play. Often in Brechtian theatre the style of the music and the lyrics jar, they don’t seem to fit together in style. Hence, distancing the audience further.
Spass.
Spass literally translates as ‘fun’. Brecht wanted to make his audience think. He realised that while we are laughing we are also thinking.
Gestus.
Gestus, another Brechtian technique, is a clear character gesture or movement used by the actor that captures a moment or attitude rather than delving into emotion. So every gesture was important. Brecht didn’t want the actors to be the character onstage, only to show them as a type of person.
Who is Brecht?
Born in Germany in 1898, Bertolt Brecht was witness to both World Wars. During the Nazi occupation, Brecht lived in exile predominantly in the United States. However, due to his strong affiliation with Marxism he was summoned to court by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Shortly after this, he returned to East Berlin.
In contrast to many other avant-garde approaches to theatre, Brecht had no desire to destroy art as an institution; rather, he hoped to “re-function” the theatre to a new social use. Epic Theatre articulated popular themes and forms with avant-garde formal experimentation to create a modernist realism that stood in sharp contrast both to its psychological and socialist varieties.
Brecht made and shaped theatre in a way that had a huge impact upon its development. Many of his ideas were so revolutionary that they changed the theatrical landscape forever. Modern theatre owes a lot to his methods.
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