What’s “Brechtian”?
February 17, 2006
Twice in the last month I’ve heard things referred to as “Brechtian”. I was curious the first time and read up on it. The second time it was buried in the bottom of a color coded “hilarity meter” on The Daily Show. I got to feel real cool when I knew the reference and could explain it to Sara. I figured everyone should be “smart” like me.
From the Wikipedia entry on Bertolt Brecht:
Brecht created an influential theory of theatre, the epic theatre, wherein a play should not cause the spectator to emotionally identify with the action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the actions on the stage.
For this purpose, Brecht employed the use of techniques that remind the spectator that the play is a representation of reality and not reality itself [...]. Such techniques included the direct address by actors to the audience, exaggerated, unnatural stage lighting, the use of song, and explanatory placards.
A perfect example of this is Dogville, starring Nicole Kidman.
Tags: "bertoldt brecht", brechtian, dogville, nicole kidman, the daily show, theater
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6 Responses to “What’s “Brechtian”?”
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Dogville does capture some aspects of the Brechtian theory, especially with the titles of each scene and prop (What Brecht would call ‘literalization’) but some aspects were clearly NOT tackled in Dogville.
Firstly, the acting was kept strictly realistic in Dogville, which did not suit the Brechtian style of defamiliarization. The point for all of Brechtian’s theory was to enable the spectator to criticize what he is observing rather than empathizing with the characters and the situation. In Dogville you certainly still empathize and identify with some of the characters.
Another aspect I did not like in Dogville is that you get to see the characters in their houses doing stuff, even when they are not the focus of the scene. If the director wanted to show us that the setting is a construction and not reality (as Brecht would have done) he could have eliminated those extra actions in the background and perhaps place real actors preparing for their scene rather than “Acting”. That would have been clearly more Brechtian.
I do see what you mean, yes, Dogville is an attempt at Brechtian Verfremdungsteffekt, but a poor one at that seeing they only adapted the superficial aspects rather than the whole entireity of it. Perhaps it was the director’s wish to do so, but I would have loved to see the acting to be as Brechtian as the setting was. I felt the actors looked stupid with realistic acting in non-illusionist staging.
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you said,
I figured everyone should be “smart” like me.
…uh, it’s “Smart like I.” Unless you’re actually smart and don’t end sentences in prepositions in which case it’s “Smart like I am…”
in any case,
I can assure you,
you are not at all smart.
Ummmm. Wow. Molly? That’s a little harsh.. I’m gonna hope that maybe you guys are friends and this is teasing? Since “smart like me” was so obviously said tongue in cheek…
And, here’s the thing, I am trying to find a concise definition of Brechtian to direct people to, and this blog seems to be highest on the list, and the best of any that I’ve seen, since the wikipedia entry is actually some dissertation on Brecht. So, you know, high ranking on Google, that’s gotta be worth some serious kudos in the web-world.
[...] The acrobatic forest spirits I felt too, lacked their own internal purpose. When the ropes and cloths majestically came down to the stage for the forest sprites to climb and fool around on, it seemed only a shameless attempt to show off abs and ability. However, their skill and precision was quite impressive, and almost made me forgive the “hey, look at me,” mugging to the audience. Instead of adding to the story, this kind of action took me out of the play. Maybe they were going for something Brechtian? [...]