Brechtian Techniques

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:34pm

I know very little about acting, and even less about how to do it, so this is probably a really stupid question, but hopefully somebody here will be able to help me.

I've found a list of some of the most common Brechtian techniques, but in a lot of these cases, the names themselves don't make any sense to me and are not completely self-explanatory. I was wondering if anyone knows where I could find slightly more in-depth descriptions of what they are, what they involve, etc?

Thanks. :)

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:45pm

One of my favorite books is BRECHT FOR BEGINNERS

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:46pm

Also, if you have any specifics, just send a message my way. I studied Brecht for a semester

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:47pm

I guess it would be good for me to explain why I need this. I have a final project coming up in my drama theory class, and my professor hasn't really been very clear about what you can do, other than that you can... do whatever you want. Most of the people in my class are actors, so they're going to stage scenes and stuff. So, I can do a presentation or a demonstration of something, and she mentioned Brechtian techniques as an idea, when I mentioned that I was a bit lost because I've terrible stage-fright.

I suppose I could pick a few and then ask for volunteers in actually doing a demonstration that I dictate, or something -- for those of you who know how these techniques work, does that sound viable? And where would I look for the things I need?

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:05pm

This is would be somewhat difficult. If you were looking for demonstrations I would go to Stella Adler's THE TECHNIQUE OF ACTING and have a combination of some of her exercises, have a demonstration of Meisner's repeating work, the demonstration of the purpose of an open ended scene and improvisation, or maybe a demonstration of some of Meyerhold's techniques. Brecht's ideas are much more of full production conventions that are difficult to apply through the use of a few volunteers in a limited amount of time. Does that make any sense?

Updated On: 4/10/06 at 11:05 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:06pm

That does, thanks. I'm not sure why it was suggested, then, but that's an entirely different issue. :-/

Updated On: 4/10/06 at 11:06 PM

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:13pm

Actually, I thought of something for Brecht that might work that my script analysis teacher did a few months ago. If you could apply Brecht's concept of 'gest' to some of his short poems, you could have the volunteers reenact the gest of each poem aftter reading this. Otherwise, you'd have to force the entire class to read a large portion of Brecht's text for them to really get an understanding. His short poems, however, often have the same structure as his plays (set up exchange, refusal or acceptance of offer, etc) and could serve your purpose. Sorry to contradict myself so soon, but the idea just popped into my head.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:18pm

You don't have to apologize; I appreciate the help!

We did read selections from Brecht on Theatre, but none of the assigned are particularly useful to this cause, I don't think.

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:23pm

I just found my old Brecht hand outs. Hold on a minute and I'll post some of the good stuff.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:27pm

Em, it was 20 years ago, and I remember a great scene of Three Penny - very dark and lights on the audience. What about the end of Rent - could there be a Brecht theme there to explore?

Why does Mark turn the projector on the audience - an essay?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:28pm

No, it can't be an essay. It's a presentation/performance. :-/

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:33pm

You could have actors create an image of the gest of this poem...

‘Travelling in a Comfortable Car’ by BRECHT
Travelling in a comfortable car
Down a rainy road in the country
We saw a ragged fellow at nightfall
Signal to us for a ride, with a low bow.
We had a roof and we had room and we drove on
And we heard me say, in a peevish voice: No
We can’t take anyone with us.
We had gone on a long way, perhaps a day’s march
When suddenly I was shocked by this voice of mine
This behaviour of mine and this
Whole world.


Discuss the "lesson" of his poems
"Changing the Wheel" by BRECHT
I sit by the roadside
The driver changes the wheel.
I do not like the place where I have come from.
I do not like the place where I am going to.
Why with impatience do I
Watch him changing the wheel?

THE GEST
In order to fully reveal the episode, the moment that the deal is concluded or fails must be made clear onstage. Notice the root of 'gest' is the same as that of gesture. A gest implies the movement of the offer, an exchange, or a rejection. A gest always involves a human gesture, an interaction between at least two people. For Brecht, all gasts had social significance, which implies politics and commerce.

episode- an event played out that is understood by the audience independently of the play

transaction- the underlying structure od behavior; trade: something is bought or sold

caption- the summary of the event in the episode

demonstration- making the episode clear to the audiece

gest- the moment between people when the trade is made or denied

the object lesson- use of a physical object to demonstrate the gest (can include a prop, ie the wheel, money, etc)

alienation- making the familiar strange-distancing for critical watching- the verfremdungseffekt

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:40pm

Hmm, come out on motor cycle with the lights blazing on your teacher. Take him/her out of the moment and then give a presentation on Three Penny?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:41pm

Thanks, Necromancer.

heh, I could try that, lwyr. Good for effect....