Tuesday, 8 December 2015

A Bit On Bertolt Brecht

Brecht was both playwright and producer/director of his own, and others', plays. He also wrote extensively on dramatic theory. You should explain his theory in terms of his practice in writing and production. You may be confused if you assume that the theory matches the reality of the plays in production. The theory, arising from a Marxist notion of drama as a vehicle for rational didacticism, describes theatre as Brecht, in a sense, wished it to become. This theory is only partly realised in his own work. Brecht would say that this is the result of the theatre's (and society's) not being ready yet for the final, perfected version of epic theatre. Modern theatre critics might say that Brecht's practical sense of what works in the theatre has (happily) overruled the more extreme applications of his theory.



'Art is not a mirror with which to reflect reality but a hammer with which to shape it.' - Bertolt Brecht





Extracted from: https://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/drama/brecht.htm

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