amp Styles What is a Theatre Practitioner A Director a Dramatist or an Actor but often and mainly their occupation consists of a combination of these traditionallyseparated roles Creates Theatrical Performances ID: 388498
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Slide1
Theatre Practitioners & StylesSlide2
What is a Theatre Practitioner?
A Director, a Dramatist or an Actor but often and mainly their occupation consists of a combination of these traditionally-separated roles
Creates Theatrical Performances
AND
Produces Theoretical Discourses
Theories / Debates / Some form of communication that inform & introduce specifically their own practical works /Aka “theatre practices” to not only the audience of their productions but to a broader artistic spectrum that often influences / was influenced by societies and culturesSlide3
Bertolt Brecht
“Epic Theatre”Slide4
Brecht’s Biography
10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956 [Late 19
th
to the early 20
th
Century]Born in Augsburg, GermanyGerman poet, playwright and directorStudied philosophy & medicine at the University of Munich, later becoming a medical attendant in a German military hospital during the First World WarSlide5
Beginning Influence
World War One experiences
Reinforced his hatred of war and influenced his support for the failed Socialist revolution in 1919 in Germany
After the war, Brecht returned to university
but
he took on literature instead of medicine as he’s developed a increasing interest towards literature
One of his first plays was deeply influenced by the work of Ernst Toller, including “Drums in the Night”, a play about a soldier returning from warSlide6
Stanislavski's System’s Influence on Brechtian Theatre
A drastic part of human behavioral study, which was later on clearly applied and practiced in Brecht’s theatrical productions
Believable emotions and physical actions of actors through “Emotional Memory” portraying character’s behavior onstageSlide7
Marxist Influence
Marxism – Politically, Culturally, Socially & Economically equal society
1927 - Collaborated with the composer Kurt Weill
Produced “The Threepenny Opera”
Although based on The Beggar's Opera of 1728, Brecht added his own lyrics that illustrated his growing belief in MarxismSlide8
Hitler’s Influence on Brecht’s Career
Reflected a Marxist interpretation of society, when Adolf Hitler gained power in 1933 he was forced to flee from Nazi Germany
While living in exile he wrote anti-Nazi plays such as “The Roundheads”, “Peakheads” and “Fear and Misery of the Third Reich”
Followed by
Life of Galileo (1939),
Mother Courage and Her Children (1939),
The Good Man of Szechuan (1941),
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1941)
Caucasian Chalk Circle (1943).Slide9
Exile
Lived in Denmark, Sweden, the Soviet Union and the United States (Hollywood)
Wrote the film “Hangman also dies” [1943]Slide10
The Return to Germany
Investigation by the
House of un-American Activities Committee
leading to a interrogation at the HUAC on the entertainment industry, Brecht left for East Germany after the fall of Hitler due to his accusation and criticism of being a left wing socialist /communist member & for betrayal
1949 –Founded the
Berliner Ensemble
and over the next few years it became the country's most famous theatre company. However, Brecht wrote only one play in East Germany, “The Days of the Commune” [1949]Slide11
Brecht Plays
Mother Courage and her Children
1939
Fascism and Nazism
Filmed after his death, performed by his widowed wife, famous actress, Helene Wiegel
Considered by many to be the greatest play of the 20
th
Century and the greatest anti-war play of all timeSlide12
Brecht’s Ideology
Attempted to develop a new Theatrical approach
A Brechtian Expert’s definition ~ “He tried to persuade his audiences to see the stage as a stage, actors as actors and not the traditional make-believe of the theatre, requiring detachment, not passion, from the observing audience. The purpose of the play was to awaken the spectators' minds so that he could communicate his version of the truth”. Known as Epic Theatre.
My understanding ~ The concept of constant remembrance of the Theatre’s atmosphere & existence often provoking the reaction of the audiences’ realization that the content & context of the production is a daily part of the their societal, cultural and political influenceSlide13
Epic theatre
Devised multiple episodic theatrical techniques such as…
Breaking the Fourth Wall
Narration
Acting Styles
GestusAlienation techniqueDidacticism
PlacardsSlide14
Differences between Epic and Naturalistic/Realistic TheatreSlide15
Brecht Quotes
“The world of knowledge takes a crazy turn when teachers themselves are taught to learn.”
Let nothing be called natural, In an age of bloody confusion, Ordered disorder, planned caprice, And dehumanized humanity, lest all things Be held unalterable! ~ The Exception and the Rule (1937), Prologue