THE 103 Seminars in Theater |
The Epic Theater of Bertolt Brecht
Among the most inventive and influential playwrights and directors of the modern era, Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) has left a legacy of important plays and dramatic theories. Brecht believed the theater should be a platform on which political and social issues should be debated. As an alternative to the traditional Aristotelian drama, he developed “epic theater” in which alienating theatrical devices were employed to keep his audience emotionally detached and intellectually alert. This seminar will focus on Brecht’s ideas on “epic theater” and the dialectical and sometimes alienated relationship he achieved with his dramas. Texts for the seminar will include Mother Courage and Her Children, Galileo , The Good Women of Setzuan, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. This course is offered in the spring semester.