Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, theatre director, and Marxist. He had very contrasting views on theatre to that of Stanislavsky. Brecht wanted to change the ordinary cliche view on theatre and have the audience captivated.
Being a Marxist suggests the most significant characteristic a human has is creativity. The V effect signals the idea that workers are separated from their work due to capitalism. So in the theatre people aren't in control of their lives so outside the theatre they would want to be.
Brecht was a communist and believed in a left wing society (which I previously explained in an earlier post) and this challenged Aristotle ideas- the Aristotle ideas were based on believing in naturalism and that the audience would have to suspend their belief, which is where the rules of acts and scenes came into theatre.
This also lead to Epic Theatre. Theatre should not be linear whilst breaking the 4th wall reminding the actors and audience of who they are. This was achieved by the use of: harsh lighting, no make up, cheap music, costume changes on stage and no climax.
This would in turn, distance the audience from their emotions, completed contrasting to naturalistic theatre. By using projections and signs he showed them what was happening on stage, also using songs to divide up action and let the audience see the actors warm up, blurring the boundaries between life and theatre. Brecht hated the idea of the 4th wall and was against anything that promoted capitalist ideas. He was completely against the idea of the audience sharing emotions with the actors, or the actors sharing emotions with the audience.
Brecht wanted to leave the audience filled with questions and theories, such as 'Do we turn more right wing in hard times?' Brecht was able to alter humans using the essence of montage as it doesn't require a journey, more like:
Statement/Argument/Statement.
'Hungry man, reach for the book: it is a weapon.' Bertolt Brecht.
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