THEA 2210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Aestheticism, Rationality, Australian Council Of Trade Unions
Document Summary
Epic theatre is the theatre of destroyed illusions and the wide-awake audience. Brecht attacks the conventional theatre, that of the greeks as well as the theatre of his own time, that of wagner and the well-made play. He sketches a rationalist"s caricature or an audience victimized by emotional empathy and theatrical illusion: there they sit, almost motionless, with a slightly stupid expression on their faces, intoxicated, as if sleeping (demetez, 1962) Moves away from past canons: it moves away from realistic theatre (a well-made play) and empathy. This kind of theatre is a shift from representational theatre to presentational. It also moves away from mimesis (the imitation of life) You can say that the representation of theatre transforms the priorities in theatre towards presenting actions, and words, and language that emphasizes the metaphysical world. The first comes from the aesthetic and artistic movement. The second comes from ideas, notions, and philosophies which art is based on.
