Module 3: Brecht & Boal Flashcards
Who was Bertolt Brecht?
Brecht was a German playwright active in the 1920s - 1950s
What kind of plays did Brecht create and why?
He created plays that forced audiences to “think critical thoughts”
Felt that theatre was too easy to sit through and instead needed it to touch people
What was interesting about Brecht’s actors?
They gestured (gestus) towards characters rather than embodying them.
Provided dialogue where actors speak on their characters in third person
Stage directions were spoken out loud
Who was Augusto Boal?
A Brazilian playwright active in the 1950s - 2000s (died in 2009)
What were the ideas of Boal?
Blurred the lines between actors and audience
Encouraged audiences to talk back to the action
Define: Spec-actor
Created by Boal
An audience member who participates in acting
What was the Berliner Ensemble
A group created by Brecht and his wife that performed his texts and out his theories to practice
Define: Forum Theatre
Created by Boal
Had scenes replay with different actions given by the audience to evaluate the usefulness of each proposed solution to the social process
Who wrote Theatre of the Oppressed
Boal
What was Theatre of the Oppressed (1970s)
It was text created with the intention to transform lives as spectators become performers, acting out solutions to social problems
Define: Invisible Theatre
Theatre where an audience is unaware it is theatre (flash mob adjacent)
Define: newspaper theatre
A form of interactive, politically charged theatre where performances are created from news articles
Define: Image Theatre
Part of Theatre of the Opressed
Participants use their bodies to create images or frozen pictures that explore issues and emotions through nonverbal communication
Define: Vergremdungseffekt (V-effekt)
Coined and used by Brecht
A technique used to alienate the audience
Epic Theatre
Brecht’s style of theatre
Narration
Narrative driven, episodic, scenes stand alone; Montage
Gestus
Dramatic Theatre
The normal theatre
Plot driven, usually linear
