C’est un bon slide pour savoir la physique nouvelle. Afin d’acquérir des compétence bien approfondies , dans un trés bon cadre optimisé et dans une trajectoire

1. Bertolt Brecht
Dynamic Throwback
By:
Dillon “Felix” Medina

2. Quick Bio
• Born in Augsburg Bavaria to middle class
parents.
• Bright quiet student in grade school
• As a child, he visited folk festivals and saw
extremely detailed dioramas of historical
events. These simple, expressive images
captured his imagination and had a strong
influence on his artistic style later in life.

3. • Went to Medical school where he was
drafted into the German army near the end
of the first World War.
• He was stationed in a VD clinic, but was
still affected by the images he was
exposed to.
• This experience would greatly influence
his writing throughout his life and lead him
to adopting a pacifist philosophy.
Quick Bio (cont.)

4. Emerging Artist
• Around this time he began to write plays,
finishing his first full length piece, entitled
Baal, in 1919.
• Created in response to The Loner (Der
Einsame) by Hans Johst.
• The first of many works to be created in
response to another work.

5. “Anyone can be creative. It’s rewriting other
people that’s challenging.”

6. Berlin
• In September 1924, Brecht was hired as a
dramaturge at Max Reinhardt’s Deutsches
Theater in Berlin, one of the top theaters in the
world at the time.
• Around this time he met Elisabeth Hauptmann
who he remained romantically and
professionally involved with for the rest of his
life.
• Also during this time, he married Helene Weigel,
a successful actress with whom he remained
with for the rest of his life, albeit not faithfully.

7. Berlin (cont.)
• Around this time he began establishing the
“Brecht Collective.”
• First play produced by the “collective” was
Mann ist Mann.
• Marks the beginning of his “epic theatre.
• Began studying Marxist theory, and from
this point on remained an avid communist
in life and art.

8. Exile
• Because of Hitler’s rising
power, Brecht left Germany
in 1933 for Denmark, and
then on to Sweden, and
finally ending in America in
1941.
• He worked on several
screenplays for Hollywood
and hated every second of it.

9. HUAC
• Blacklisted and subpoenaed in 1947.
• Laughed through the whole proceedings
and contradicted everything he espoused,
which was defendable according to his
personal philosophy.
• Flabbergasted the board.
• Flew to Europe the day after the hearings
were finished.

10. Return
• Brecht returned to communist controlled
East Germany in 1949
• Established the Berliner Ensemble in his
very own theater in 1954.
• No new plays came out of this period, but
he continued to write poetry, and some of
his better known pieces came out of this
period.

11. Butting Heads
• Brecht and East German officials
continually bumped heads over the
years. Artistic censorship frustrated
Brecht, even as he was being held up
to the Western world as a shining
example of communist artistic
achievement.

12. Death
• Bertolt Brecht
died of heart
failure on August
14, 1956 at the
age of 58.
• In his will, he
requested that a
stiletto be placed
in his heart, and
that he be buried
in a steel coffin
to prevent the
worms from
eating his
corpse.

13. Epic Theatre
• Created in response to the Aristotelian
theatrical tradition, the melodrama of the
nineteenth century, and the Naturalistic
style promoted by Stanislavsky.
• Composed of ideas and conventions that
existed for hundreds or even thousands of
years before hand, from many different
cultures around the world.

14. Aristotle
384 – 332 B.C.
Circa 335 B.C.

15. Aristotelian Drama
• Single event presented over a short
period of time.
• Clear sequence of beginning, middle
and end.
• Scenes interdependent on one
another to convey plot.
• Subject primarily Man’s relation to
God.

16. Melodrama
• Easily digestible
schlock.
• Protagonist is
archetypical “good
guy” and Antagonist
is archetypical
“dastardly villain.”
• Endings all
wrapped up and
everyone goes
home happy.

17. Naturalism
• Stanislavsky attempted to overcome the
shallow, static style of melodrama with an
in-depth reflection of real life.
• Subject is Man and his relation to Himself.
• Great emphasis on characters “internal
life.”
• Aimed at pulling the audience into the
world of the play by suspending their
disbelief to the utmost extent.
• “Subtle Gradient.”

18. Aims of Epic Theatre
• Brecht felt that theatre should be used as
a vehicle for social change, a forum for
social issues to be examined and
discussed.
• Subject is Man and his relation to Society.
• He felt that the audience should retain
their critical thinking skills, and should
therefore be pulled from the world of the
play at all costs.

19. Conventions
• Play construction is “epic” in that it spans
large periods of time.
• Scenes are not dependant one another
and can be added, removed or reordered
with little overall effect to the plot.
• Sparse, non-realistic stage and lighting
design.
• Placards and projections.

20. Verfremdungseffekt
• “Alienation effect”
• Acting in the third person (traffic accident).
• Presentational as opposed to Representational.
• Actors and audience are encouraged to not, at
any point, feel that they are the character they
are portraying.
• Characters are not representative of individuals,
but of social groups or types.
• Attempts to create a space between audience
and actors.

21. Influence
• Writers like Thornton Wilder,
Tennessee Williams, and Jean Paul
Sartre.
• Theorists and Directors like David
Mamet and Peter Brook.
• Modern stage design.
• Anti-illusory presentation.

22. Sources
• Mews, Siegfried Critical Essays on Bertolt
Brecht. Princeton University Press, 1989
• Esslin, Martin Brecht: The Man and His
Work. Double Day and Company, 1960
• Bentley, Eric Seven Plays by Bertolt
Brecht. Grove Press 1961
• http://german.lss.wisc.edu/brecht/