Brecht

Bertolt Brecht was one of the pioneers of the "Political Theatre", criticising the modern political world through his theatrical plays. Bertolt lived between 1898-1956 in East Berlin and it was in occupation of the Soviet from after WWII and was a very communist state. His style was influenced by Marxism, and the belief of the social world was the materialism served as a basis for his theatrical technique. Brecht structured his plays to question the audience's surroundings and reality, making it obvious that what the audience was watching was a play, so the feeling of fantasy isn't lost. He used the 'Alienation effect', preventing the audience from becoming too immersed in the play, approaching the play with a critical point of view from each character.

• Use of a Narrator
• Harsh Lighting
• Minimal set
• Lack of names
• Use of song
• Introduction of the character as the actor

Brecht believed in the use of 'gestus' which portrays only the characters' social relations, instead of the emotional aspects of them. Done through narration or a simple mime. Another Brechtian technique is constantly breaking the fourth wall, by speaking to or interacting with the audience. He also used an episodic structure, normally with a non-naturalistic timeline, jumping forwards and backwards.