The Life and Works of Bertolt Brecht

The Life and Works of Bertolt Brecht

In this essay I will consider the life and works of Bertolt Brecht,

the famous theatre practitioner who has had such a dramatic impact on

our understanding of the theatre and acting. First of all I will give

a biography of Brecht because it is important to know the background

of his life in order to understand the motives he had for writing and

producing plays in the way he did. We will see a direct correlation

between events in his life and the plays and techniques that he

propagated. I will then move to explore the methods and techniques

that Brecht developed, looking at how they came about and who

influenced his work. I will look at Brecht’s theory of Epic theatre,

tracing the beginnings of this style and looking at the influences

that may have helped to form it. To get a clear view of what Epic

theatre is like I will compare it to dramatic theatre, which Brecht

did himself, in regard to how the audience reacts to it. I will

examine Brecht’s theory of using Montage and the effect that he

intended to have on the audience. I will consider the origination of

Verfremdungseffekt and how this was not an original idea of Brecht’s

but something that he identified with because it supported his ideas.

Geste was the technique that Brecht wanted actors to use when

portraying a character, I will examine what geste is and what may have

influenced Brecht to use it. Music for Brecht was a vital part of

theatre and I will look at what interested him about using music and

the role of music in his Epic theatre. I will consider Brecht’s ideas

of what stage design should be like and how he viewed it as something

separate to the text and the music. Brecht was a political writer and

after reading the works of Karl Marx he wrote and produced didactic

plays that reflected the philosophy of communism. Brecht wanted to

involve the audience in the debates that he presented in the text and

in this way the audience would learn about the arguments and be able

to come to an informed conclusion of what they thought. The plays that

did this are called ‘The Lehrstuck’ or ‘Learning Plays’ and I will

consider how they were presented in order to involve the audience and

get them to respond.

Brecht was born in 1898 to a middle class family in the south of

Germany. In his teenage years the First World War broke out and ...

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against. In the writings of Karl Marx he found a philosophy that

mirrored his and he began to write more vigorously to inspire

political change. His belief was that the oppressed poor people had to

be inspired to fight for political change and thereby relieve their

suffering. These plays were written for a music festival and they took

place on a very open stage, which allowed more audience involvement.

Behind the stage there was a projection screen which displayed the

text and invited the audience to join in by singing along. Sometimes

there would be actors in the audience to lead the audience response.

In this way Brecht hoped to involve the audience in the political

debates within the text.

Throughout his life Brecht collaborated with other writers, musicians,

directors and designers. His work was always an amalgamation of

efforts and yet he managed to claim it as his own. By the end of his

life he was a leading figure in theatre his productions had changed

the way people viewed theatre because of their innovative ideas and

detailed acting and design. Through exploring Brecht’s work I have

learnt more about the theatre, its origins and its potential.