Brechtian Techniques Used In Drama
How I have used Brecht techniques and style in my performance.
In my performance, my group and I have used an array of Brechtian techniques and styles to create a stylised and tasteful performance. Some of these techniques are necessary for a Brechtian piece, such as the use of gestus, play building and alienation. Some other Brechtian techniques such as the use of spazz, songs/music, montage and placards help create a greater meaning in the performance.
When my group and I started our performance, we first had to come up with a strong and clear gestus. We did this by looking in the newspaper – we found many articles about young people inflicting harm on each other and juveniles involved in serious crimes. This topic struck us as a current issue that we could relate to and that we understood. We discussed this further until we all agreed that we would create a play built performance based upon how society has created the monster that is generation Y. We used this as motivation for all the other scenes or episodes that would be supporting our gestus.
The play building process has been severely vital in the construction of our performance. As we improvised each idea, it was a process of trial and error to see which episodes would be included into the performance. Improvisation played a big part in the play building process because a lot of our best ideas have come from acting on impulse, and have steered us into new, sophisticated directions.
Each scene we develop, the group had to take the technique of alienation into great consideration. It is so easy to forget this factor, which is absolutely vital in a Brechtian performance. After we finished or developed a scene, we all discussed how we could make the audience feel more alienated. An example of this is in our first scene when the scientist is directly addressing and talking to the audience. It makes each audience remember that they are watching a...
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