This assignment will explore the work of Bertolt Brecht and will investigate his influence on the development of rehearsal and performance. It will cover the importance of "Politics" and it's impact on the creative arts, unpicking social/political themes and meanings which shape our everyday viewpoints and beliefs on the topic of "immigration in modern society".
Throughout the ongoing assignment, we will piece together perfomance material that cover the ideas of Brecht, concluding with a "Theatre Uncut" performance piece that will be promted by the question, "Do we all get more Right-Wing in hard times?"
The purpose of the assignment is to interpret stimulus material, exploring researching, shaping and developing material for performance and evaluating its potential for an audience.
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Bertolt Brecht
Birth:10th February 1898. Death:14th August 1956
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, theatre director and a Marxist follower. As a theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made contributions to Dramaturgy (the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage) and theatrical production, the latter through the tours undertaken by the post-war theatre company, the Berliner Ensemble, operated by Brecht and his wife, Helene Weigel, a long time collaborator and actress. As a lifelong committed Marxist follower, Brecht was successful in combining and developing the theory and practise of his "Epic Theatre", a theatrical movement arising from the theories and practise of a number of theatre practitioners. "Epic Theatre" proposed that a play should not cause the spectator to identify emotionally with the characters or action before him/her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the action on the stage.
Brecht and the "V Effect"
As an artisan, one of Brecht's most important principles was the "Verfremdungseffekt (distancing) effect". As Brecht preferred to put it, "stripping the event of its self-evident, familiar obvious qualities and instead, creating a sense of astonishment and curiosity about them". The idea of "making things strange and unusual for an audience". Hereafter, Brecht would employ techniques such as the actor's directly addressing audience members (Immersive Theatre), harsh and bright stage lighting, the use of song to interrupt the action, explanatory placards and in rehearsals, the transposition of text to the third person or past tense and speaking stage directions out loud.
In a broader sense, Brecht as a practitioner was able to revolutionise the way audiences viewed theatre, breaking down elements of the 4th wall allowing for more performer/audience interaction and understanding. He was also successful in adding a more technical/raw understanding of the way a play was performed, deducing the emotional aspect of performance and thrusting the audience into a world of aesthetics and technicality. Brecht intended his performers to express their character's social attitudes through clear and stylised physicality and vocalisation.
An Introduction to Brechtian Theatre The clip investigates how the theoretical work of Bertolt Brecht is transformed into practise on stage. His various techniques of involving the audience in the world of the play through not only dialogue, music and dance, but through infrastructure successfully construes his motive for allowing the audience to become socially active with both the plot and the message of a piece. Brecht engages the audience visually and is able to portray a message not only through practicality but through technicality in terms of lighting, interior and exterior. Immersing an audience in perfomance has been on of Brecht's greatest aims quoting, "We should try out each and every consevable artistic device which can help towards this aim whether its old or new". Furthermore, this examines how Brecht is able to utilise the material that shapes our everyday lives whether it be political or social and incorporate it in drama to create something groundbreaking that challenges the norms in society.
In Bertolt Brecht's theatre, he uses a variation of acting techniques and skills in order to engage the audience with the social/political message of his performances, that distance them from the emotional contexts most associated with Naturalism, an art form derived from Constantin Stanislavsky. Epic Theatre: A theatrical movement arising in the early to mid 20th Century from the theories and practise of a number of theatre practitioners including Bertolt Brecht. One of its main aims is for the audience to always be aware that it is watching a play and that one of the main features of ordinary theatre, "the engineering of illusion", should be excluded from "Epic Theatre".
The art form was a reaction against the popular forms of theatre, particularly the Naturalistic approach powered by Constantin Stanislavsky. The V- Effect: Also known as the "Verfremdungseffekt", or "Distancing Effect" The technique is achieved by the way the artist brakes through the fourth wall that separates the world of the audience and the performer. Therefore, the audience can no longer have the illusion of being the unseen spectator at an event which is really taking place. Gestus: Developed by Bertolt Brecht himself, "Gestus" is an acting technique that carries a combination of physical gesture and "gist" or attitude. The term means an adaption of an attitude to a scenes' social context. Montage: A technique used in film editing in which a series of shots are edited into a condensed sequence of space, time and information. Music is normally placed in the background which derives the scene of dialogue. A "Montage" can also be described as self contained scenes juxtaposed against each other to highlight the contradictions of character and situation.
Didactic Theatre: This approach to theatre places an emphasis on instruction. It aims to intensify the thoughts and actions of its participants. Most commonly described as "theatre that teaches something", one of its main features include the foregrounding of ideas and content and their presentation by rhetorical means. Not...But: Formed as part of the Brechtian approach to performance, "Not...But" is an acting technique that involves the actor preceding each thought that is expressed by their character in the dialogue or each action performed by their character in the scene with its dialectical opposite. The technique is a rehearsal exercise. Titles: Within Brechtian performance work, "Titles" work as the structural guideline of the scene. The application of a title for a scene in Brecht theatre is used to define the story to follow. Contradictions: "Contradictions" explains the moral dilemma's that an individual is faced with in life, but acts upon regardless of group/individual circumstance. For example, (looking at a dress in a shop that you know enforces slave labour but buying it regardless of the hardship of the workers that have to make it.) Brecht draws upon the idea of "contradictions" in his art in order to exemplify the political caricatures that juxtapose one another in terms of status etc. In Brechtian terms, the definition can also be referred to as Brecht's "theatre of contradictions".
The "Daily Express" is an example of a Right Wing Tabloid Newspaper. It's negative and sordid portrayal of Immigrants in Britain exemplifies its narrow minded understanding of multiculturalism and integration in Britain. Recognise how the "Daily Express" reports "All" migrants take new jobs in Britain. In studying and analysing Brechtian theatre, this headline would be useful stimuli in creating a "caricatured racist character" representing the "Daily Express".
The "Observer" is an example of a Left Wing Tabloid Newspaper. Olympic Gold Medallist Mo Farah is printed on the front page as an example of "success" and "dedication". This headline shows the irony of how the media can switch between presenting immigrants in a negative or positive light and proves that multiculturalism in Britain only improves our strength and success as a nation. In Brechtian theatre, this article could be used as an opposition to the statement "Do we all get more right wing in hard times?"
Immigration and the "Go Home" Vans The implication of the "Go Home" Vans shows the extent to which negativity and influence from the media has portrayed immigrants as "criminals", resulting in an unjust system of nationalistic ideologies. In Brechtian theatre, the social/political aspect of the "Go Home" Van regime can be used to present the increasing, narrow minded attitudes of many individuals which could be presented in the form of caricatured tableau (freeze frames) to display the extent to which the media can present certain groups as "folk devils" of squalor and squander in society. The "Theatre Uncut" performance piece "Church Forced To Put Up Gates After Font Is Used As Wash Basin By Migrants" by Mark Thomas exemplifies the extent to which the media endorses hate and resentment on the basis of immigration in modern society in order to make money. Thomas utilises comedy in the form of "exaggerated gesture" and "voice" through the character of "Eddie Reeves" in order to display the unjust nature of mass media in real life and how the news amplifies stories to make them appear worse than they actually are.
What did we do? In the first lesson of exploring "Political theatre" as an art form, we researched factors that contributed to our overall understanding of what we thought "politics" meant to society and individuals. My own conclusion was that "politics" refers to the "practise and theory of influencing other people on a civic or individual level." As a class, we explored each others political opinions and beliefs through a discussion. We applied an exercise which challenged our opinions on topics concerning "Government Censorship","Self Defence" etc in the form of a "percentage scale". We would move from one side of the room to the other which replicated the extent to which we agreed or disagreed with the subject matter. From this exercise, we were all in a position where we could question each others judgements and ideas concerning certain issues on the topic of "politics", which contributed to our overall understanding of the form and its role in our daily lives. Through our thorough learning and understanding of "politics" and its role in shaping our everyday lives and society, we were capable enough in collaborating exercises that followed the term "Making things strange!" My group and I decided to devise our piece of role play around a "motorbike" which fitted into our exercise and where we used our physicality to replicate parts of a motorbike, which we believed would fit the statement "Making things strange!" We were given four pointers to consider; "Object in normal state", "Object with attitude", "Object with Owner" and "Object with political meaning". We used our vocal progression to replicate the sound of a motorbike and our physicality to symbolise "aggression". Through this "aggression", we wanted to identify political themes concerning racism and homophobia. What Went Well? In familiarising ourselves with the basics and foundations of "politics" and it's role in our daily lives, we were able to as individuals, come to an overall conclusion of what we as young adults in society viewed "politics" to be. The group discussion and percentage scale exercise was useful in adapting our overall views in a practical manner that sparked discussion and opinion. In the exercise "Making things strange", we were able to successfully transfer our political ideologies from discussion to role play in an applied Brechtian manner. Already in our first practical lesson on Bertolt Brecht, were we able to adapt our learning style to his techniques which further increased my understanding of "political theatre" and "underlying messages" which Brecht most commonly associated in his works. Overall, this devising exercise made me want to explore Brecht's work further and apply them to current political headlines in the media industry today.
Even Better If? I believe that if we devised another exercise that challenged our opinion on "politics" and "Brecht theatre", I would have had an even greater understanding of the practitioner. In the first lesson, I felt that my understanding of "Brecht" and his techniques of "Making things strange" was quite limited compared to what it could have been if we applied more practical understandings of him in place. However, I understand that in the time we had, we would not have been able to devise another practical exercise of Brecht and therefore believe that with practise and personal study/ research of Bertolt Brecht, I would have increased my overall interest and understanding of how Brechtian theatre works as an art form.
What did we do? In this lesson, we covered the negative portrayal of immigrants in the media and wider society, determining how these beliefs and interpretations arise in our popular culture. As a group, our task was to create performance pieces that presented the stereotypical idea of an immigrant whilst incorporating an underlying message that related back to our understanding of Bertolt Brecht and the "V- Effect". (Hidden meanings and messages in theatre.) We analysed different newspaper articles, investigating whether the political stance of journalists and writers could determine contrasting perspectives on immigration and picked a scenario for which we could base our performance pieces around. As a group, we decided to base our piece around the "mistreatment of foreign individuals on public transport". We incorporated Brechtian techniques into our piece such as over exaggerated gesture, body language, voice and accent in order to represent a "racist" individual and used the idea of a "bus" as a microcosm of society; the idea that passengers are closed in much like the policies and laws concerning immigration, integration and the general feeling of alienation and intimidation that many immigrants feel on a daily basis. What Went Well? Using the newspaper articles as stimuli for devising around the concept of "immigration", helped to broaden ideas for our piece. The controversial nature of the newspaper articles challenged my opinions on the level of respect that the media shares for immigrants in society and therefore allowed me to seek out ways in which I could convey the news stories into a scenario through the use of "caricatures". Brecht's belief in "caricatures" helped, in that it provided a path for which I could characterise the stories portrayed in the news on the basis of illegal immigrants into a "fascist, uneducated character" that provided "race hate" as it appeared in the newspaper headlines of the "Daily Express". My body language and vocal tone successfully replicated the way the punchy headlines and slogans were being portrayed in the anti-immigration stories and execution appeared largely non-naturalistic, which plays as a contributing factor to Brechtian performance. Even Better If? I believe that we could have developed our understanding of the "V-Effect" and incorporated more hidden meanings and messages into our performance which would have encouraged our piece to appear more Brechtian. However, the skills and knowledge that we acquired from devising our own "Epic Theatre", provided a gateway for which we could incorporate into our "Theatre Uncut" pieces later on in the term.
What did we do? In this lesson, we embarked on a "Character creation exercise" in which we worked on our posture and body language, utilising the Brechtian techniques we had studied, on exaggerated gesture, voice and facial expression. As a practitioner, Brecht believed in "caricatured" gesture so in order to develop our understanding of his techniques and methods we created "caricatures" of a "champagne drunk", "special brew drunk", "pregnant lady" and a member of the "elderly". In order to fully understand the given circumstances of these" caricatures", we had to exemplify their status and position in society from our postures. This was useful in establishing the social/political hierarchy that we face in our everyday society and how our economical/cultural upbringing can affect our mindset, views, beliefs and health. We also applied a "tableau exercise" to our work of "soldiers leaving the war behind and burying the dead". In my group, we utilised the freeze frames as a way of explaining a soldiers struggle of burying his best friend. Our first freeze frame exemplified "Soldiers marching away from battle". We used the "Evolutionary scale" as a stimulus for our "freeze frame" for instance, the soldier nearest to the back of the line was crouched down in tears, mourning the death of his/her best friend and the soldier nearest to the front of the line was proud and tall as if walking away from his/her troubled past. We decided that this would be powerful in exemplifying the troubled situations many soldier's have to embark on everyday and how it affects individuals in different ways whether it be breaking down or shutting off the pain. Our last task was to respond to the scenario of a strike at a factory and how that would affect a "rich capitalist owner" and a "pregnant worker". In order to understand the differences between the two characters, we had to first understand the most realistic social and economic circumstances both individuals would be under in order to present convincing caricatures of Brechtian theatre. In my take on the two character's, I thought that the "pregnant worker" would have been more financially affected by the strike than the "rich capitalist owner" and therefore had to put a stronger emphasis on emotion and low posture into my version of a "pregnant worker" as opposed to a more uptight, confident representation of a "rich capitalist owner". What Went Well? Undergoing the "Character creation exercise" developed my understanding of Brecht's style of theatre. I became aware that he wanted his performers to develop "body language" and "facial expression" in order to present a character in the most exaggerated way possible. His style as opposed to Constantin Stanislavsky is far from "Naturalistic" and I was able to develop this understanding through undergoing the practical exploration of developing a "caricatured" exaggerated representation of an individual /group in real life. Separating these "caricatures" into a "campaign drunk", "special brew drunk" and "pregnant lady" helped me to understand the rudiments of developing a character and how posture, body language and tone of voice can present a "caricature" in different ways. I also believe that the first exercise on "caricatures" developed my execution of the "rich capitalist owner" and the "pregnant worker" as I had a an overall fuller, well rounded understanding of applying Brechtian techniques to my style of acting. The tableau exercise in which we applied freeze frames to "given circumstances" of death and loss in war, presented me with a structure in which me and my group could develop and expand into caricatured symbols of soldiers at war. It presented me with a premise by which I could use my understanding of the harsh realities of war and conflict and embed them in short effective frames.
Even Better If? I believe that we could have developed the "Tableau" exercise further in presenting the social power differences in society between varying social classes. This would have further embed my knowledge of how social hierarchy can effect a mass population and believe I could use the knowledge from the piece to apply to Brechtian Political Theatre on the topic of "Immigration". However, I understand that developing this understanding over a broader sense would take time and therefore believe that we were able to achieve a wide range of knowledge over the time we were allocated.
