Epic Theatre & Important Facts

A Brief Introduction

Epic Theatre was a reaction against popular forms of theatre, particularly, the naturalistic apporach pioneered by constantin Stanislavski. Epic Theater was theatrical movement arising in the early to mid 20th Century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practiontioners, including Erwin Piscator, Vladimir Mayakovsky and most famously Bertolt Bercht. Although many of the concepts and practices involved in Berchtian epic Theatre had been around for years, even centuries, Brecht unified them, developed the style and popularized it epic theatre incorporate a mode of acting that utilizes what he calls gestures. The epic form describes both a type of written drama and a methodological approach to the production of plays. “Its qualities of clear descriptor and reporting and its use of choruses and projections as a means of commentary earned it the name epic.”

One of the most important technique Brecht developed to perform epic theatre was the ‘alienation effect. The purpose of this technique was to make the audience feel detached from the action of play, so they do not become immersed in the fictional reality of the stage or become overly empathetic of the character. Brecht’s influence may be seen in the plays of John Arden, Robert Bolt, John whiting and Peter Shaffer.

Important Facts to Remember

1. Epic theatre was a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid 20th Century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners, including Erwin Piscator, Vladimir Mayakovsks, Vsevolod Meyerhold and most famously, Bertolt Brecht.

2. Epic theatre incorporates a mode of acting that utilizes what he calls gestures.

3. Epic theatre was a reaction against popular forms of theatre, particularly the naturalistic approach pioneered by constantin Stanislavski.

4. The epic form describes both a type of written drama and a methodological approach to the production of plays: “Its qualities of clear description and reporting and its use of choruses and projections as a means of commentary earned it the name epic.”

5. The chief goal of epic theatre is for the audience to always be aware that it is watching a play. It is most important the one of the main features of the ordinary theatre should be excluded from the engendering of illusion.

6. Common production techniques in epic theatre include a simplified, non-realistic scenic design offset against a selective realism in costuming and props, as well as announcements or visual captions that interrupt and summarize the action.

7. Brecht used comedy to distance his audiences from the depicted events and was heavily influenced by musicals and fairground performers, putting music and song in his plays.