Brecht Theories
Bertolt Brecht, a German socialist, dramatist, stage director and poet believed that theatre should appeal to the spectators dialectics rather than there emotions. Brecht was heavily influenced by a wide variety of sources including Chinese, Japanese, and Indian theatre, the Elizabethans, Greek tragedy, fair-ground entertainments and much more. On the contrary, Brechts own theatrical theories and staging conventions were a direct revolt against the theatre practices of his day. With reference to his epic' dramas; The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Mother Courage and her Children, along with comparison to Dramatic theatre, this response will debate the issues surrounding Brechts revolution of theatre.
Born Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht on the 10th of February
1898 in Ausburg, Bavaria in Germany, Brechts childhood and early youth were years full of violent events filled with drama. It was at this time that the capitalist world developed, together with the events that linked to the outbreak of the First World War with all its destructive consequences. These tragic events left their mark on the young Brecht and powerfully influenced the formation of his character and in turn would also play a major part in the development of Brecht's ideas. In 1933 the Nazi's came to power and Brecht was forced to leave Germany. It was during this period, in exile, that Brecht wrote his greatest plays including Mother Courage and her Children and The Caucasian Chalk Circle.
Brecht called his modern theatre the Epic Theatre and this was to be the theatre for the modern era. Its main aim was to be analysing the social relations that determine action in bourgeois society. In his plays, Brecht creates an image concerning the many sided and contradictory events in history. However, how he presented them on stage has created much debate across the world of theatre. During Brechts day, dramatic theatre dominated theatres around the world and the idea that the...
Please login to view the full essay...