Introduction and Scenario

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.

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.

The Key Terms of Brecht Theatre

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". 

Immigration in our daily lives and the reaction of the Media (Incorporating these examples into Brechtian Theatre)

Right Wing Newspapers Vs Left Wing Newspapers

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.  

Tuesday 5th November 2013

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.

Monday 11th November 2013

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. 

Tuesday 12th November 2013

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.

Tuesday 19th November 2013

What did we do?
In this lesson, we applied a variation of techniques used in Brechtian theatre such as the "Montage", "Gestus" and the use of "Titles" in order to construct our own "Epic Theatre".
An example of how one could create their "Epic Theatre" piece could be by showing one side of an argument on immigration and then opposing that argument through song, which is what we did at the beginning of the lesson as an introduction to the basics of "Epic Theatre". 
The scenario for our " Epic Theatre" consisted of three scenes covering the "physical archetypes" of being a "Mother", "Killer" and a "Madwoman". We were placed in groups of five in which we shared our knowledge of what we had learnt about Brechtian techniques so far in the unit.
We decided on a title for our piece which was to be "Bye,Bye,Baby". Our piece followed the story of a mother who, faced with a miscarriage and drawn to paranoia decides to steal another person's baby out of a pram at the local park. She believes she is a killer for the incident that had occurred with her own unborn child and is placed into a state of madness.  
Within our performance, we applied a break in time, where we used song to deliver the story to the audience, (montage) in which time we broke out of character (a technique used by Brecht in order to prevent the audience becoming emotionally attached to the story on the stage and rather more interested in the technicality and positioning of performance members.)  

What Went Well?
My understanding of Bertolt Brecht was enhanced through my own practical exploration of applying his techniques; "Gestus", "Montage", and "Titles" to my "Epic Theatre" piece. The knowledge I had acquired from the theoretical exploration of his practises, helped my group and I convey a message through performance that incorporated most distinguishable Brechtian theories and ideas. From this understanding, I was able to make a valid contribution to the way I believed the piece would successfully convey themes of "madness" and "paranoia" and the break in time for song, allowed us as performers to covey these themes.

Even Better If?

In order to covey the themes of "madness" and "paranoia" to a larger extent, the characters that were conveyed in the piece should have been more caricatured in terms of body language, voice and facial expression.

It would have helped in distinguishing a line between comical, overzealous acting most associated with Brecht as opposed to "naturalism" which was being conveyed too much in the piece.

Monday 25th November 2013

What did we do?
In this lesson, we analysed our "Theatre Uncut" performance pieces that covered the topic of "Immigration in the media". 

I was assigned the role of "Eddie Reeves" in the short play, "Church forced to put up gates after font is used as wash basin by migrants" by Mark Thomas.

From reading the script and analysing the themes/context of the play, I gathered that my character represented the "caricature" of the "right-wing news reporter of the 21st century", loosely based upon the ideologies of the "Daily Express" Newspaper. 
The remainder of the lesson was allocated to reading through the script, familiarising myself with the "given circumstances" of "Eddie" which I interpreted as "racist" and "misogynist".

From discussing my character with peers in class, I was able to gather ideas on how I was going to convey my character of a "rich/fat capitalist" on stage.

What Went Well?
Understating the themes/context of the performance, gave me some insight into how I was going to present the character of "Eddie" on stage.
My confident understanding of Brecht and "caricatures" helped me in this process and gave rise to a number of extravagant possibilities into how I was going to present myself in an exaggerated Brechtian fashion much like the representation of a "Fat Capitalist". 
The "given circumstances" allowed me to play around with my character, broadening my understanding of what it meant to be "powerful". 
Overall, I was able to utilise the skills and techniques of Brecht such as "Gestus" in presenting a character which represented "status" and "gluttony".  

Even better if?
I believe I would have gained more from my character if I began in the first lesson of "performance work" to transfer all my ideas of Brechtian performance and the themes of "power" and "status", into a practical exploration of my character, instead of basing the lesson solely on theoretical understandings, with "note-taking" on ways in which I could create a convincing character.
I understand however, that a character can only appear "convincing" if preparation and theory is applied before the practical rehearsal process begins.

Conducting a Political Protest

Staging a Political protest in awareness of "Gender Equality and Equal Rights".

What did we do?
In groups of between three and five, we were instructed to choose a subject on the basis of which we could create a "staged political protest" from. In my group consisting of myself, Harvey, Seth, Poppy, Sukey and Ruby, we decided to develop our piece around "Gender Equality" and "Equal Rights for Men and Women".
Our aim in protesting was to draw upon the gender stereotypes that our generation is faced with in everyday life and challenge the boundaries of principle. 
In order to achieve this aim, we used role reversal ie. men dressed as women and vice versa, in order to challenge the idea of why both genders are segregated in terms of fashion, sex and opportunities.

The Pros of our Political Protest
From initiating and conducting our Political Protest on "Gender Equality", I believe our desired response of interest and awareness was achieved from the audience. We wanted to make sure that our protest covered topics ranging from "homophobia" to "equal rights for men and women in the bedroom" and most audience members respected our argument and supported our cause.
I believe that the content within the protest was successful in raising awareness for "gender equality" and that our interview/discussion method, effectively interested our audience and got them thinking, discussing and sharing ideas on the basis of "gender equality".
The "immersive" nature of the protest i.e. "through the selling of orgasms" intrigued the audience and in response, helped them become more aware of our message. 
It also made the whole experience more inviting and intriguing, spreading "equality" in a positive, light-hearted way.

The Cons of our Political Protest
At certain points during our political protest, we had to deal with minor negative homophobic comments directed at the usage of dresses by the males in the group. The dresses were used as a technique to raise awareness for the social ideas that divide both men and women in terms of "fashion" and many other social factors. However, as a group we understood that some individuals may have been sensitive and therefore misunderstood the premise of our argument resulting in the negative responses to our political statement.
Another factor that posed as a problem in the early stages of devising our protest was the idea of not making the piece reliant on "theatrics" and "comedy" which may have defeated the purpose of our message and the sincerity of "gender equality" but at the same time, keeping it light hearted and humorous. 
We decided in the end to have a mixture of both, we would address the theatrics through song/dance and incorporate more deeper understanding and awareness of "gender equality" through our interviews.

In all, the protest proved a success in addressing the social factors that divide both men and women on the topics of "image", "sex" and "expectation". 

We were able to draw upon these factors in a mature and well-rounded manner that enlightened and inspired our audience.

An example of how we used "Role Reversal" as a way
of intriguing our crowd with a clear political message
of "Gender equality".
We also used banners with punchy slogans such as
"Let it grow" to promote the idea of "going natural"
and not falling for the pressure of artificial beauty
created by society.
 

During the protest, we allowed members of the crowd
to participate. We conducted short
interviews on their attitudes towards "gender roles"
and the patriarchal ideas of sex and relationships
which plays as a contributing factor towards
"gender inequality" in society. 

An example of how we incorporated
humour and comedy into our
protest through "song".
The traditional Christmas hymns
were given "lyric twists" that referred back
to our protest for "gender equality" and
"equal treatment" of men and women.
As a group, we incorporated "song" into
our protest from our understanding of
Brecht and his technique of "montage"
which was used to immerse and involve
the crowd in our stand against "gender 
mistreatment". 

Through "Song", an idea we were able to develop from
our work on Bertolt Brecht in emphasising the moral
idea of the piece, we were successful in attracting 
members of the audience to engage with our argument
 through familiar tunes with a "lyric twist".
We decided as a group that the message of our piece
would be more engaging and inspiring for an audience
if we made the whole experience light hearted and 
entertaining.

"Theatre Uncut" Character Description

"Church forced to put up gates after font is used as wash basin by Migrants"

Character Profile
Eddie Reeves (Racist Newspaper Owner)

In the Brechtian inspired piece, "Church forced to put up gates after font is used as wash basin by Migrants" by Mark Thomas, I played the character of "Eddie Reeves", the racist misogynist owner of the "Daily Voice", a right-wing Newspaper chain.

"Eddie" is a vile, self centred character that thinks only of himself and the welfare of his rich lifestyle. He is responsible for the mistreatment of the minority groups in his company and thinks of them as lesser individuals.

Throughout the short performance, "Eddie" rants about finding the "right story" that will get readers buying his newspapers regardless of whether the information is true or false. 
As an actor in role, I was able to pick up on "Eddie's" "given circumstances" and "gestus" as a character. I was aware that in terms of the "Brechtian performance technique", I would have to exaggerate my body language, gesticulation and voice in order to present a suitable "caricature" of right-wing political media. 
Much unlike "Naturalism", I would have to rely more on "action" rather than "subtlety" and appear "comical" in terms of euphemism and gesture.

In terms of message and purpose, the character of "Eddie" is very complex, unfurling layers of "scandal" and "mistreatment" that are apparent in modern day society. The audience are able to come away from the performance with an understanding of how society works in terms of "hierarchy" and "status" and how some of those with power can use their wealth to undermine and objectify others, in this case with "Immigrants".

In bringing my character to life, I noticed how the "V-Effect" allowed the audience to communicate and connect with the piece. Breaking elements of the 4th Wall, allowed the audience to question the motives of the character at face value and interpret the "action" in their own way. I believe this helped in creating drama which immersed the audience in the world of the play whilst at the same time, removing them from their comfort zones.   

A "Caricature" of the "Rich, Fat Capitalist".
I utilised this "image" as a stimulus for
creating a character that conformed to
the interpretations of Brechtian performance,
adapting comic, over the top voice, movement
and gesture.

Myself in the role of "Eddie". As a whole we were able to
adapt and shape the style of Brecht. Our set and
costumes embodied "comical value" which was useful
in exploring a "serious topic" and questioning its validity.
I believe we were successful in stylising the ideas of
Brecht and placing them in a "modern setting". 

Evaluation of "Theatre Uncut"

Evaluation 

Performance 

"Church forced to put up gates after font is used as wash basin by migrants"

To clarify, I was successful in using the techniques I had acquired from the study on "Brechtian theatre" in order to present a vivid interpretation of right-wing media in modern society. The in- depth study on Brecht's theatre of ideas/techniques, helped me to understand and dissect the structure of creating a "caricature" on stage, following Brecht's belief in elaborating "gesture", and "vocal tone".   

I was aware that voice, physicality and blocking would be essential in adapting my character to "Brechtian style". I understood that I would have to use levels and dynamics in my posture for example, in order to divulge my interpretation of a "Right-Wing Newspaper Journalist" away from "Naturalism".

The first half of "performance day" was dedicated to tightening blocking, articulation and projection. Therefore, it was essential that our level of "concentration" and "discipline" was at its peak.
My blocking consisted of exaggerating my "gesture" and improving my "posture" in order to present the "comic" element of Brechtian performance. This time was also dedicated to improving my use of the "V-Effect" which was essential in "involving" and "immersing" the audience in the world of the play, breaking down elements of the "4th wall".
In my opinion, these techniques improved the quality of the first "run through" which at first appeared shabby. 
Overall, this gave us a rough idea as to how the final performance would culminate.

I was very pleased with the level of dedication and engagement with the piece in the final performance. I was clear with my blocking and vocal tone and maintained a certain level of energy throughout the whole piece. I was also clear with my "objectives" which were to "undermine my staff" and "find a story that would sell papers". 
I utilised the advice from tutors, tools and exercises that I had learnt in my previous lessons to fully immerse myself in the role. I was also pleased with the way other character's responded to mine which allowed the scene to flow and remain consistent and how the ideas that were implemented in the performance, were juxtaposed in each scene which made the whole experience "unique" and "endearing".

Overall, I feel as if the work that was carried out in lessons was responsible for our success on stage. I have begun to understand that "concentration" and "dedication" to a role is central to improving the quality and authenticity of a performance.
Although there are areas in which improvement is needed, such as understanding the meaning of the "lines" to a deeper extent, my level of professional execution, contributed to the success on stage.

As a "theatre product", the Brechtian inspired piece would be successful in highlighting the political injustice that society is faced with everyday. It could also be used to educate young people on the social hierarchy that we as individuals are accustomed to and how the media can often present certain social groups as "folk devils" in order to generate publicity and social economic wealth.