Brecht's Theatre

Brecht's theatre was and still is very unlike you average theatre, this is how he liked it. There are many aspects which made Epic theatre what it is and there are differences almost everywhere you look.


The plays
Brecht's plays were made not to entertain the audeince, but to provoke thought. His plays were about things that were currently happening in society that nobody gave much thought to and these issues were often political. The structure of the plays were different as well because most plays have a linear storyline where one thing happens straight after the other, like a book whereas Brecht changed a lot of this. His plays were more like episodes and not necessarily in order. After one scene there would often be a break where there would be music or something other and during these breaks, there would be a stage change (if necessary) and the audience could briefly think about what they had just seen. He included music and songs in his plays so they were almost musicals, this sometimes lightened up the mood but then the mood was pulled back to reality because Brecht didn't aim to make the audience happy.

The Actors
The actors in epic theatre were also very different in terms of how they portrayed the character. In normal theatre, the actors are to become the character and leave their own characteristics at the side, Brecht wanted his actors to know that they were to portray the characters instead of becoming them, so theey were just pretending. He wanted it this way so that his audience would remember that they were only watching a piece of theatre, he didn't want for them to fully immerse in a story that was being told on stage, not actually happening on stage. 
There is also a technique that was used in epic theatre called Gestus. Gestus is something where the actors would create a still image or gestures that represented their characters on stage.

The Alienation effect
Otherwise known as the " Verfremdungseffekt" . This technique was all about making the familiar unfamiliar and making the audience think about the message the play was putting across.

The Audience
Brecht wanted his audience to be at ease and relaxed because they would then watch the play, be more entertained and think. He would make sure that they were relaxed by letting them smoke in the theatre which wasn't common at all back then and is prohibited now (nobody wants the theatre to go on fire)