Brecht
The Marxist Man of Germany
By using “Epic Theater” as his “mode,” Breach wanted to have control over all aspect of his play. “He was the stage designer, the composer, and the director. The production as a whole, not just the words, was the poem. It was in essence, and often in detail, his poem” (xv). By controlling and directing how the audience sees and interacts with the play, Brecht is able to move away from the norms of plays. Brecht is able to break boundary between the audience and the actors. In traditional drama, as well as 21st century movie theaters, plays and movies create a distance between the actors and the audience as well as a distance between the members of the audience themselves. The famous adverts in movie theaters perfectly portray this. As the lights start to dim the audience is always reminded “not to talk” and “to turn off their cell phones.” Why is this? It is because, the play or movie is to be “physically” separate from the people watching it. Although the audience is sitting side-by-side experiencing the same “entertainment” the experience is meant to be an individual one. With Brecht this is not his goal. He does not want his audience to be physically or mentally distant from his actors. Brecht would not dim the lighting above the seats, but instead keep them lit, and by doing this he allows the audience to be reminded that they are sitting together. He encouraged the audience to interject, interrupt, and interact with the actors through his short and plentiful acts while also directing the actors to speak, at times, directly to the audience, as not to hide there intension or motives.
By specifically engaging the audience, Brecht confronted the boundaries between the stage and the audience. By doing so he allowed or even made the audience take part in the play. Brecht wanted the audience to be part of the play in order to install a sense of empowerment in them. As The Good Women of Setzuan was created as a propagandist tool in
By using “Epic Theater” as his “mode,” Breach wanted to have control over all aspect of his play. “He was the stage designer, the composer, and the director. The production as a whole, not just the words, was the poem. It was in essence, and often in detail, his poem” (xv). By controlling and directing how the audience sees and interacts with the play, Brecht is able to move away from the norms of plays. Brecht is able to break boundary between the audience and the actors. In traditional drama, as well as 21st century movie theaters, plays and movies create a distance between the actors and the audience as well as a distance between the members of the audience themselves. The famous adverts in movie theaters perfectly portray this. As the lights start to dim the audience is always reminded “not to talk” and “to turn off their cell phones.” Why is this? It is because, the play or movie is to be “physically” separate from the people watching it. Although the audience is sitting side-by-side experiencing the same “entertainment” the experience is meant to be an individual one. With Brecht this is not his goal. He does not want his audience to be physically or mentally distant from his actors. Brecht would not dim the lighting above the seats, but instead keep them lit, and by doing this he allows the audience to be reminded that they are sitting together. He encouraged the audience to interject, interrupt, and interact with the actors through his short and plentiful acts while also directing the actors to speak, at times, directly to the audience, as not to hide there intension or motives.
By specifically engaging the audience, Brecht confronted the boundaries between the stage and the audience. By doing so he allowed or even made the audience take part in the play. Brecht wanted the audience to be part of the play in order to install a sense of empowerment in them. As The Good Women of Setzuan was created as a propagandist tool in