The Life and Works of Bertolt Brecht Essay -- Theatre Practitioner Dra

The Life and Works of Bertolt Brecht In this essay I will consider the life and works of Bertolt Brecht, the famous theatre practitioner who has had such a dramatic impact on our understanding of the theatre and acting. First of all I will give a biography of Brecht because it is important to know the background of his life in order to understand the motives he had for writing and producing plays in the way he did. We will see a direct correlation between events in his life and the plays and techniques that he propagated. I will then move to explore the methods and techniques that Brecht developed, looking at how they came about and who influenced his work. I will look at Brecht’s theory of Epic theatre, tracing the beginnings of this style and looking at the influences that may have helped to form it. To get a clear view of what Epic theatre is like I will compare it to dramatic theatre, which Brecht did himself, in regard to how the audience reacts to it. I will examine Brecht’s theory of using Montage and the effect that he intended to have on the audience. I will consider the origination of Verfremdungseffekt and how this was not an original idea of Brecht’s but something that he identified with because it supported his ideas. Geste was the technique that Brecht wanted actors to use when portraying a character, I will examine what geste is and what may have influenced Brecht to use it. Music for Brecht was a vital part of theatre and I will look at what interested him about using music and the role of music in his Epic theatre. I will consider Brecht’s ideas of what stage design should be like and how he viewed it as something separate to the text and the music. Brecht was a political writer and after reading the works of Karl Marx he wrote and produced didactic plays that reflected the philosophy of communism. Brecht wanted to involve the audience in the debates that he presented in the text and in this way the audience would learn about the arguments and be able to come to an informed conclusion of what they thought. The plays that did this are called ‘The Lehrstuck’ or ‘Learning Plays’ and I will consider how they were presented in order to involve the audience and get them to respond. Brecht was born in 1898 to a middle class family in the south of Germany. In his teenage years the First World War broke out and ... ... was so against. In the writings of Karl Marx he found a philosophy that mirrored his and he began to write more vigorously to inspire political change. His belief was that the oppressed poor people had to be inspired to fight for political change and thereby relieve their suffering. These plays were written for a music festival and they took place on a very open stage, which allowed more audience involvement. Behind the stage there was a projection screen which displayed the text and invited the audience to join in by singing along. Sometimes there would be actors in the audience to lead the audience response. In this way Brecht hoped to involve the audience in the political debates within the text. Throughout his life Brecht collaborated with other writers, musicians, directors and designers. His work was always an amalgamation of efforts and yet he managed to claim it as his own. By the end of his life he was a leading figure in theatre his productions had changed the way people viewed theatre because of their innovative ideas and detailed acting and design. Through exploring Brecht’s work I have learnt more about the theatre, its origins and its potential.