Brecht’s Epic Theater: A Theater of Questions

How do you learn best? Do you remember things better when you read them or when you hear them? Are you a visual learner? Can you have fun and learn at the same time?

Among Brecht’s most important contributions to the theater were his ideas on “epic theater”—a type of theater that aims to remind its spectators that we are being presented with demonstrations of human behavior, not the real thing. Brecht rebelled against traditional dramatic theater that pretended to be reality and strictly sought audiences’ empathy, arguing that theater should not attempt to make you identify with the characters on stage, but rather should make you watch with critical detachment. However, he knew that emotion and empathy, if channeled properly and paired with rational thought, could motivate people to seek change.

So, in his epic theater, Brecht sought to make us think both rationally and emotionally about the social environments that are presented. He does this by creating situations that catch you off guard and make you question your expectations about a character or a moment.

As you watch The Caucasian Chalk Circle, look for things that take you by surprise or that make you question you assumptions about characters and their actions. Brecht was not only about big ideas; he also insisted that above all, theater should entertain. He thus used the tools of populist entertainment—song, spectacle, humor, exotic settings, melodramatic stories, decent characters in dangerous situations—to achieve his theatrical and political aims.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle is a testament to Brecht’s ability to energize his political purpose with the pleasures of populist entertainment. It combines unsentimental fairy tale, romance, battles, beheadings, dangerous journeys and a high-stakes trial, all set in a farflung locale allowing artistic license with costumes and scenery. The narrator relates the action in song; the story of the heroine pits good against evil; the secondary protagonist is a clownish bumbler. Yet the play still manages to raise questions about who is in the right, and how we as a society take responsibility for the care of our lands, our government, our children.

—Liana Thompson (Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, South Coast Rep Playgoers Guide, Brecht on Theater)

Brecht’s Epic Theater: A Theater of Questions

Brecht on Theater

Contrasting dramatic theater to epic theater, Brecht wrote:

The dramatic theater’s spectator says: Yes, I have felt like that too – Just like me – It’s only natural – It’ll never change – The sufferings of this man appall me, because they are inescapable – That’s great art; it all seems the most obvious thing in the world – I weep when they weep, I laugh when they laugh. The epic theater’s spectator says: I’d never have thought it – That’s not the way – That’s extraordinary, hardly believable – It’s got to stop – The sufferings of this man appall me, because they are unnecessary – That’s great art; nothing obvious in it – I laugh when they weep, I weep when they laugh.

— From Brecht, Bertolt, Brecht on Theater: The Development of an Aesthetic, edited and translated by John Willett (New York: Hill and Wang, 1964) 71.

Term to know

Epic Theater — A theatrical tradition developed by Brecht in which spectators are supposed to be aware of the fact that they are watching a piece of theater, rather than a slice of reality. Brecht’s aim was to make his audience critical of the characters on stage, rather than strictly empathetic with them.