Brecht 

Brecht was born on february 10th 1898, he was educated and raised in Augsburg, the Bavarian section of the German Empire. Brechts family were heavily Religious, he studied Luther's German translation of the bible. This is extremely relavent and there are many biblical references within Brechts writing, mostly found in Mother Courage and Her Children. 

Brecht began writing at the age of 16 and was condemned by his school and almost excluded for his creation of the play 'The Bible ' due to the controversy around the subject matter. Something that occurred frequently within Brechts career. By 1922 after a string of radical affairs, self exploration and a the birth of an illegitimate child, Brecht opened his first play 'Drums' in Berlin and won the Kleist prize for young dramatists for this production. This Information brings home Brechts unusual lifestyles and the choices he made which therefore reflects on the journey of the theatre he created which we intact study today. 

The women in Brechts life are often said to have been vital within his writing career and this can be seen through his relationship with wife and communist Helene Weigel, His marxist beliefs complimented her intrest. Along with women, Brecht was fascinated by Greek tragedy. Brecht experimented with Dadaism and expressionism but developed his own style of writing, directing and acting. 

Brecht formed the Berliner group in west germany with soviet backing after fleeing to Zurich during the Nazi occupation of europe. The Berliner group is what in effect gave Brecht a platform which allowed him to share the theatrical conventions he had developed for such a long time. This is theatre that broke conventions allowing a path through for the theatre we see today. 

Epic Theatre and Breaking the Fourth Wall: 

Epic theatre is the term most wideley used to describe Brechts work in regard to technique and theory. His plays all comment on  political, social and economical aspects of his characters lives. Brechts revolutionary theory of non-representational staging and the disconnected montage of scenes all pieces together to create the idea of 'alienation'. This is making the audience work, and feel slightly uneasy. This further links to 'breaking the fourth wall.' (the imaginary wall between the audience and the performers.) Brecht broke the fourth wall by adressing the audience directly from the actors and giving the actors and awareness of being watched. 

Note:

When devising and performing have this in mind: SOCIAL POLITICAL       ECONOMICAL.

Naration and Song:

Brecht worked with Kurt Weill often to use song as a means of commentating and narrating on the action displayed on the staged and NOT as a means of heightening the emotion in the text. This showed off Brechts ability as a poet but also shows a churpier side to such serious content. 

Note:

Our Piece involves song. I have been directly involved in this and I hope that our choices refer to the story in the same way. We need to focus on the literary content of out songs and this is why its so important that we change the lyrics within our song choices. (in order for it to narrate the happenings on stage).