~ Bertolt Brecht ~

Research

Betolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright and theatre practitioner born in
1898. Although his upbringing wasnt Pentecostal Christianity, he was heavily
influenced by the bible from a young age which would eventually effect his
writing and become a major theme in several of his projects. At the age of just
16, Brecht was soon influenced on the effects of World War 1, writing poems at
school on how a person, on an empty mind can be persuaded to die for their
country in which he was nearly expelled for. After graduating from Munich
University where he studied drama, he was drafted into the military service only
to return a month later after the war had ended. Within the 1920s Brecht began
work within the performing arts industry, acting, producing and writing plays.
The plays he wrote were heavily influenced on things he grew up with from
religion, politics and war. Brecht believed that theatre should send people a
message and teach the audience a lesson as opposed to them relaxing and enjoying
themselves. He became a theatre practitioner using different techniques to keep
the audience away from connecting with characters. These included breaking the
fourth wall, using placards, relying heavily on stereotypes and archetypes. One
of the plays that he wrote The Caucasian Chalk Circle is a play that relies
heavily on a lot of these practices and several others to help keep the audience
awake and focused.
- A Journey Into Brecht

Born, 10 February 1898 as Eugen Bertolt Friedrich Brecht in the German

Town of Augsburg, Brecht is one of the most well-known theatre
practitioners, writers and directors to date. After serving in World War
1 and seeing the destructive nature, he applied to Munich University then
went to Berlin in pursuit of a theatre career.

After fleeing Germany when the Nazis arrived, he became stateless until
1941 when he became a resident in the United States of America. He
returned to Europe in 1947 after appearing in the House Un-American
Activities Committee.

Brecht was constantly influenced by a various range of practitioners and

writers including Chinese Theatre and Karl Marx. Through the time period
in which Brecht grew in, he developed a strong political voice and a
personal view on the world through his unique telling of theatre.

He created and made theatre in a way that had a huge impact on what we
would know as theatre today. So many of his ideas were unique and
revolutionary that they changed the way people saw theatre forever.

Whilst naturalistic theatre was used as an entertainment means of

showcasing what was happening in the world at that time. Brecht decided
to use theatre as a means of truly educating and informing the public of
the world and society that surrounded them. In naturalistic theatre
audiences where supposed to connect with the characters and care about
them as a means of putting a point across, but with Brecht, he believed
that the audience shouldnt connect with character as a means on being
able to judge the way society was and see the message within the play.
How he did this was by using a range of theatrical techniques that the
audience would notice to keep them awake. The type of theatre that Brecht
used was called Epic Theatre which he called the act of distancing the
audience from emotional involvement.

At a young age, Brecht was introduced to the Luthers German translation

of the Bible which he used to develop his writing as an author. He would
constantly take quotes, references from the bible and translate them into
representative characters or storylines for the majority of his
productions. When he was young, he began writing and co-editing/co-
funding, the school newspaper which was called The Harvest. At the age
of 16, he wrote a play called The Bible which was about a girl who had
to choose between living and dying but saving other people. This was
influenced a lot from his Catholic biblical stories. At school, he was
also nearly expelled for standing beside his country during war time
which was another themes that was used heavily in a lot of Brechts
plays.

Moving forward, during 1938 and 1945, some of Brechts greatest plays
were written which included The Life of Galileo which was the story
based on the real life of the seventeenth century astronomer and
physicist Galileo Galilei. Mother Courage and Her Children which covers
the themes of the dreadfulness of war and the idea that kindness is not
rewarded in corrupt times. The Good Woman of Setzuan which is the story
of a young woman torn between duty and reality, love and practicality and
between her own needs and those needs of her friends and neighbours.
Finally The Caucasian Chalk Circle which is the story of a peasant
woman named Grusha who saves a baby and becomes a better mother than he
actual biological mother. All of these plays were written during the time
of war, which Brecht felt heavily about, simply believing that people on
empty minds can easily be persuaded to die for their country.

He then began experimenting with theatre, creating different types of

epic theatre and using unique and different techniques to help keep the
audience focused on the message of the play. His ideas for theatre where
not for the audience to be immersed in the world he created, but instead
to look upon it and carry their own individual views and opinions.

Through using all of this research, I am able to see what type of

influences Brecht had growing up to become the author he was. The types
of influences he had are also beneficial for the actor to understand as
we can then go forward and emphasis the main themes that Brecht wished to
push out to the audience. By understanding him more, we can see, when
reading through his scripts, what type of messages he wished to put
forward which again is beneficial to us as actors, and as a director,
emphasis the message so it is clear to the audience.

REFERENCES
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zwmvd2p/revision/4
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht
- http://www.gradesaver.com/author/bertolt-brecht
- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Setzuan-author-Bertolt-Bentley-
January/dp/B00QAR3BNA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1497194546&sr=8-
3&keywords=the+good+woman+of+setzuan