WorksheetsBrecht and Epic Theatre
Total questions: 26
Worksheet time: 13mins
In which century did Brecht work?
20th century
19th century
18th century
What nationality was Brecht?
French
American
German
Brecht created...
The Method
The System
Epic Theatre
Theatre of Cruelty
What technique did Brecht NOT advocate?
Evoking sympathy from the audience
Creating sterotypical characters
One actor playing several characters (multi-roling)
Speaking directly to the audience
What did Bertolt Brecht like to do with the audience
Scare them
Isolate them
Involve them
Exclude them
Why was Epic theatre created
He wanted people to use their intellect
To annoy Stanislavski
To make money
Because no other theatre existed
Verfremdungseffekt means
Making people happy
Creating an emotional distancing so an audience thinks about what is happening
Creating a realistic character so the audience feel empathy
Good acting
What is the ALIENATION EFFECT?
Making the audience feel awkward and confused
Creating drama that includes aliens
An audience will connect to the play using their intellect instead of their emotions
Making an audience cry with sympathy for a character
Which 3 of these techniques would Brecht use?
Still Image
Emotion memory
Song
Speaking in third person
What does the term MULTI-ROLING mean?
Rolling across the stage multiple times
When a female and male actor play the same role
When all of the actors speak multiple times
When an actor plays more than one character onstage
Which EPIC THEATRE technique is defined as a style of acting that used gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice to make a political point?
Verfremdung
Episodic structure
Political themes
Gestus
Which of these would Brecht use?
Actor would sit with the audience
A narrator
Symbolic props
Actors would come out of character on stage
Costume, set and props would resemble real life
What is meant by breaking the fourth wall?
The destroying of any illusion that you are watching real life and making the audience think objectively
The structural reshaping of the performance area in a theatre
Giving the audience the feeling that they're actually in the same room as the actors
What is the difference between Epic theatre and what Brecht called Dramatic theatre?
Epic theatre deals with myths and legends while Dramatic theatre is about sad endings
Epic theatre leaves the audience with questions and challenges while Dramatic theatre has a plot that reaches a conclusion
Epic theatre is large scale and Dramatic theatre is emotional
This device was used by Brecht more frequently in rehearsal than performance. It helps distance the actor from the character they’re playing.
Narration
Speaking the stage directions
Using placards
Direct address
A sign or additional piece of written information presented onstage. This might be as simple as holding up a card or banner. Multimedia or a PowerPoint slideshow can also be used for this effect.
Direct address
Using placards
Speaking the stage directions
Narration
What epic theatre technique is defined as a style of acting that used gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice to make a political point?
Verfremdung
Episodic structure
Political themes
Gestus
How did Brecht become a stateless citizen?
He asked to become a Russian citizen but was refused
He fled from Germany in the 1930s and the Nazis removed his citizenship
He supported the Nazis in the Second World War
What was the name of the theatre company Brecht created?
The Berliner Ensemble
The Doyly Carte
The Kabuki Theatre
What is montage in Brechtian theatre?
A series of self-contained scenes that work effectively through juxtaposition with each other
A montage is made up of several small pictures, now popular because of the ease with which it can be produced on computer
The use of shadows for storytelling
Which of these styles best describes the Brechtian style of theatre?
Naturalistic theatre
Physical theatre
Non-naturalistic theatre
Brecthian theatre should allow the audience to...
emotionally detach from the characters so they can think about the messages of the play.
become emotionally attached to the characters and story lines
be impressed by the exciting visual techniques
In Realistic Acting when the performer cries, the audience cries. In Brecht,
when the performer cries, the audience laughs
when the performer cries, the audience sleeps
when the audience cries, the performer cries
when the audience laughs, the performers wait until they're done
Lehrstrucke Plays are
soap-operas
learning plays
early animation
Epic Melodramas
Distancing Effect - or Verfremdungseffekt - is
any moment, event, movement, sound, word, design magic that reminds the audience they're watching a play
Brecht's middle name
one of a group of Brecht's early plays called the Lehrstrucke Plays
the greatest moment of empathy in any play
How many allegories can you use in one play?
three
From "none" to "however many it takes"
one
only 2
