Epic Theatres
"Epic Theatre turns the spectator into an observer, but arouses his capacity for action, forces him to take decisions...the spectator stands outside, studies."
(Bertolt Brecht. Brecht on Theatre. New York:Hill & Yang, 1964. p37)
The concept of “epic theatre” was brought to life by German playwright, Bertolt
Brecht. This direction of theatre was inspired by Brecht's Marxist political beliefs. It was somewhat of a political platform for his ideologies. Epic theatre is the assimilation of education through entertainment and is the antithesis of Stanislavsky's Realism and also Expressionism. Brecht believed that, unlike epic theatre, Expressionism and Realism were incapable of exposing human nature and so had no educational value. He conjectured that his form of theatre was capable of provoking a change in society. Brecht's intention was to encourage the audience to ponder, with critical detachment, the moral dilemmas presented before them.
In order to analyse and evaluate the action occurring on stage, Brecht believed that the audience must not allow itself to become emotionally involved in the story. Rather they should, through a series of anti-illusive devices, feel alienated from it. The effect of this deliberate exclusion makes it difficult for the audience to empathise with the characters and their predicament. Thus, they could study the play's social or political message and not the actual events being performed on stage. This process is called Verfremdungseffekt, or the alienation effect, where instead of identifying with the characters, the audience is reminded that they are watching only a portrayal of reality.
Several well-known Brechtian plays include Drums in the Night, Edward 2, The
Threepenny Opera, Rise and Fall of the Town of Mahoganny, The Life of Galileo,
The Good Person of Szechwan, Triple-A Plowed Under, One-Third of a Nation,
Mother Courage and her children and the Caucasian Chalk Circle.
A play whose dramatic structure and didactic purposes epitomises epic theatre is
The Caucasian Chalk Circle (CCC). The prologue of this play transpires in a
Caucasian village of the Soviet Union, where the people of this village are being presented a play called “The Chalk Circle”. This play is narrated by a “
Singer” and embarks on the story of a servant girl, Grusha, who rescues the governor's son when their city falls under siege. The son, Michael, has been left behind, without so much as a backward glance, by his fleeing mother.
Grusha escapes, with Michael in her arms, to the mountains where they live for over a year. Along this journey, countless places and people are encountered, a number that would only occur in epic theatre.
In truly epic fashion, the play then regresses to the beginning of the story and
He was intelligent, articulate and handsome. During a gruesome killing spree, Ted Bundy slaughtered more than thirty five women within the span of five years, becoming one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. He grew up believing that his grandparents were his parents and his unwed mother to be his older sister. He was not very good at building relationships and had a lot of conflict with his stepfather and enjoyed the terms of violence and sex as a child. Ted shoplifted during his teenage years and enjoyed being above the law. He was generally very shy and gained a lot of popularity and self esteem in high school because of his good looks. It was there that he met his high school girlfriend Stephanie Brooks with whom he become obsessed, but the relationship did not last very long as she did not feel the same way for him so she broke up with him. Depressed by the break up, Ted dropped out of college and returned home with his family where he found out the truth about his biological mother. This left Ted in a state of confusion about his identity and he felt betrayed by the women in his life. He went back to high school where he and Stephanie got back together but right after she agreed to marry him, he broke up with her to seek revenge. After this charade his killing spree began, luring young women with lies, abducting, raping, physically abusing and killing them.
To realize the vision of the play, the script, set-up, costumes, stagecraft, sound design, and acting have to communicate a unified message with which the audience will relate. The script will be tailored to ensure that the audience can understand the play as it proceeds. This is in terms of the language and terms used. Though the language will not be modern, it will be English that can be understood by the audience. This will be English of antique England as it will give the play a feeling of ancient times. The scriptwriter will carry out research on the level of understanding the local people will have of ancient English so as to ascertain that the script matches this level. Although many plays of that era were sung and accompanied by dance, this play will be acted out with spoken word rather than songs. This is because speaking will ensure the audience hears the conversations as they go on and that they understand. This is ...
Bundy spent years trying to fight for his life, spending the last couple of years in his life appealing his death sentence. He also tried to keep his case alive by trying to take his case to a high as the U.S. Supreme Court but his case was turned down. He even tried to give more information on case that where unsolved so he could avoid the Florida's electric chair. By now things for him to solve and come clean was too late. Ted had to face the time for the brutal things he did to those young beautiful women even if it kill him.
..."one you become addicted to it [pornography], you look for more potent, more explicit, more graphic kinds of material... until you reach the point where the pornography only goes so far- that jumping off point where you begin to think that maybe actually doing it will give you a greater sense of excitement which is just beyond reading and looking at it (Stiles 1989)". After Bundy had realized that his addiction to violent porn was no longer being satisfied by merely looking, for a couple years Bundy dealt with very strong inhibitions against criminal and violent behavior due to his adolescent neightborhood, church, and schools. At a certain point, a sexual frenzy came over him, and he "threw caution to the wind." Towards the end of the interview, Bundy talks about his remorse, rant on pornography, and his new-found devotion to religion.
It was New Year’s Day and the year was 1866, the building was the grandiose Turner Opera House. William M and Joseph M Turner od West Carrolton built the oldest standing Theater still in existence in Dayton, Ohio. The theater cost 225,000 dollars when first opened. The Turner Opera House on 138 North Main St. caught the attention of Daytonians and the rest of the country. The Victoria Theater has definitely had its ups and downs and trials and tribulations over the last 146 years. Having survived floods, fires and tragedies the Victoria Theater is still standing and is a prominent historical building in Dayton, Ohio.
Benton uses the article to persuade educators and professors not to give up on the students and to try to protect those students that do want to learn: “I have become convinced that professors -- particularly the ones with tenure -- need to find ways to give remedial attention to student behavior, just as they have long done for students who cannot read or write well enough to succeed at college.” Furthermore, the article evaluates the problems and gets to the real cause of the lack of care and
The Globe Theater is said to be the most important structure in Shakespeare's dramatic career. The Chamberlain Company built the Theater in 1599. The Theater was located on the Southern shore of the Thames River in London. Shakespeare, being a member of the Chamberlain Company, became a shareholder in the Theater. Along with Shakespeare, James Burbage, his two sons, and five members of the troupe owned the Globe. This group of men was called Lord Chamberlains Men after a patron of the acting company. In May of 1603, King James I came to see their plays and the troupe changed their name to The King's Men. These people and groups became a living part of the Globe Theatre.
Ted Bundy is one of the most infamous, sadistic serial killers known to man. During his tenure as a killer, Bundy confessed to the murders of 30 women, though the official number of kills is unknown to this day. Bundy’s sadistic habits began at an early age due to his rough upbringing and abusive parents. His tactical methods of killing left miniscule amounts of evidence, which remained undetectable by the “still rudimentary forensics techniques of the 1970s” (Crime Museum). Bundy also managed to uphold an impressive “clean-cut appearance” and portrayed characteristics of an “upstanding character” (Crime Museum). Ted Bundy, through the course of a troubled childhood and keen wit, managed to successfully become known as one of the most infamous
Vaudeville was a premier source of entertainment for many Americans in the late 19th and early 20th century. Vaudeville theaters around the United States consisted of a variety of acts from singers and comedians to animal trainers and human marvels. In this paper I will take a look at some of the most intriguing acts I could find. Such acts include celebrities, humans performing incredible feats like surviving being shot by a cannon multiple times or spewing flames, and the so called missing link between man and ape.
Another criminology theory that may apply to help explain the criminal behavior of Ted Bundy is the Psychodynamic theory. This theory is largely based on the findings of Sigmund Freud. The underpinnings of this of the approach are that the unconscious mind affects behavior and emotion. The theory advances the argument that no behavior is without cause and that childhood experiences affect emotions and behavior as adults. Serial killers like Ted Bundy therefore are particularly affected by their unconscious mind. Bundy did not receive proper care as a young boy and the negative impact of his sense of rejection and isolation negatively impacted his adulthood with aggressive tendencies. In short, Bundy’s adult actions under this theory can be viewed as manifesting his anger over his childhood oppression in the form of brutal rapes and
are meant to present a show at the fete. The play uses comedy as its
Alice Walker and Zora Neale Hurston are similar to having the same concept about black women to have a voice. Both are political, controversial, and talented experiencing negative and positive reviews in their own communities. These two influential African-American female authors describe the southern hospitality roots. Hurston was an influential writer in the Harlem Renaissance, who died from mysterious death in the sixties. Walker who is an activist and author in the early seventies confronts sexually progression in the south through the Great Depression period (Howard 200). Their theories point out feminism of encountering survival through fiction stories. As a result, Walker embraced the values of Hurston’s work that allowed a larger
Secondly, a pattern of repeated lying, conning others for personal gain or pleasure. Third, impulsive, irritable, and aggressive displays such as fighting. Finally, individuals suffering from anti-social personalities lack remorse and are said to have no conscience. They are known to rationalize their actions as fantasies (APA, 2009). Clearly, when one speaks of Ted Bundy the obvious diagnosis would be that he was a true psychopath. His animalistic behavior of stalking and hunting his victims with no regard for their feelings places him at the top of the list. The question is whether or not today would his behavior be justifies as a sexual
The 19th century was a time of change for Americans. The civil war took place in the 19th century which divided our country into two sides. Theater plays helped the people get through the war and hard times throughout all of history. The 19th century was a time of great change for American theater (19th century).
the role of a narrator. One role he takes on in the play is the voice