THTRFLM 1T03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Bertolt Brecht, Epic Theatre, Berliner Ensemble
21 May 2013
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Document Summary
Cultural context for mother courage - epic theatre. Revolutionised concept of theatre in the west. Wrote and produced plays during hitler"s rise to power in germany. Exiled in 1933-wrote major plays and much of his theory in exile. Formed berliner ensemble in east germany after the war. Company toured the world in the 1950s and had a huge effect on theatre practise. Ibsen"s social realism places moral ideals in context of the real world. Brecht"s epic theatre challenges the very conception of the real world. Aristotle & brecht (from the modern theatre is the epic theatre by bertholt brecht. Aristotle"s drama (realism): imitation of an action, doing. Brecht"s epic: narration and imitation, doing and telling, the doing, the imitating, also created critical perspective, make action strange. Nb: realism may also show characters who want to change but the change is usually personal rather than social. Brecht wants individuals to act collectively to change society.
