Bertolt Brecht

Born: 10th February 1898

(Augsburg, Germany)
Died: 14th August 1956 (East
Berlin)
The contributions that Brecht made to theatre
Why hes regarded as one of the greatest
theatrical practitioners
The importance of his methods and
techniques
Who influenced Him?

Karl Marx (Philosopher,

Economist, Sociologist,
Journalist &
Revolutionary
James Joyce (Novelist)
Karl Korsch (Marxist
theoretician)
George Buchner
(Dramatist & Writer)
Pablo Picasso (Painter)

- He also had an original

and inspired talent to
bring out a dynamic
theatrical style to express
his views.
Epic Theatre
- Encourages spectators to watch events on stage dispassionately
- Helps them reach their own conclusions and prevents them from being emotionally involved

- Distancing effect (Verfremdungseffekt)

- artist never acts as if there were a fourth wall besides the three surrounding them
- One of Brechts most important principles
- He used various high complex acting techniques
Stanislavski
Focused on the professionalism of
actors as well as Method acting
His acting style was more
naturalistic
Supported emotion, feeling and
understanding
Brecht
Focused on Epic theatre
Characters directly addressing the
audience
Repeatedly broke the forth wall
Saw characters as Tools, and
deviated from emotion towards
audience realism.
Practical Task
Quiz
 1.) Name one person that Brecht was influenced by
 2.) What is the distancing effect?
 3.) What type of theatre method was Brecht passionate about?
4.) What year did Brecht die?
5.) How did Brecht like to conclude his plays
 Bibliography

https://www.slideshare.net/Group1/bertlot-brecht-resource-packs
http://lookrobot.co.uk/2013/06/23/stanislavski-vs-brecht-in-tabletop-roleplaying/
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/07/04/play-j04.html