German "Epic Theater" featuring Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht influenced modern theatre throughout the 20th century. His brief bio is here. Taking notes pertaining to his basic influence and importance in World Literature will help you remember him for life.

Notes about Epic Theatre:

Epic theatre was a reaction against other popular forms of theatre, particularly the naturalistic approach pioneered by Constantin Stanislavski. Stanislavski directed the Moscow Art Theatre where Anton Chekhov (not that little ensign of the Starship Enterprise) premiered his plays (The Seagull, etc)

Brecht disliked the spectacle, manipulative plots, and heightened emotion or unrealistic "overacting" of melodrama; While Stanislavski insisted on creating real human behavior in acting to absorb the audience completely in the fictional world of the play, Brecht saw Stanislavski's methodology as escapism. Brecht's own social and political focus departed also from surrealism and Theatre of Cruelty, as developed in the work of Antonin Artaud, who sought to affect audiences viscerally, psychologically, physically, and irrationally. Artaud plays were notoriously difficult to watch (and sometimes stage). For example: see Jet of Blood by Artaud.

Epic theatre incorporates a mode of acting that utilises what he calls gestus. His plays use choruses, music, projections, and disassociation as a means of commentary on political and social issues. The ultimate goal of epic theatre is that the audience should always be aware that it is watching a play. The epic approach to play production uses a montage technique of fragmentation, contrast, juxtaposition, and interruptions.

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. 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.

Acting in epic theatre requires actors to play characters believably without convincing either the audience or themselves that they have "become" the characters. Actors frequently address the audience directly out of character ("breaking the fourth wall") and play multiple roles.

Here are some clips of Brecht's best known works:

7 Deadly Sins of the Middle Class (Brecht & Weill)

Trailer for the 3 Penny Opera (stage production)
3 Penny Opera (stage production) 1999 - part 1 (you may find the entire play uploaded on the sidebar on Youtube.com)
Berlin theatre, Brecht's Mack the Knife sung by Lotte Lenya (from the 3 Penny Opera)
Pirate Jenny (from the 3 Penny Opera) - translated/Brecht
Alan Cumming & Cyndi Lauper singing 3 Penny Opera for the Tony's.

Brecht's play: Baal (1982) BBC Version with David Bowie - Part 1
Baal - part 2
Baal - part 3

The Life of Galileo (trailer) stage production
The Life of Galileo (The Wilma Theatre)

Mother Courage and Her Children (promo)
Mother Courage (Fiona Shaw)
Interview with Meryl Streep - Mother Courage and Her Children

The Good Soul (Woman) of Setzuan (trailer)
Interview with Jane Horrocks about Good Soul (woman) of Setzuan
Jane Horrocks (2nd interview + Song from the Play)
The Good Woman of Setzuan

Caucasian Chalk Circle (SUNY Purchase's production)
Caucasian Chalk Circle (Texas State University production)
Staging the In the Mountains (Crossing the Bridge) sequence.

And just for fun, here's a formalist avant garde collage using Bertolt Brecht.