Bertolt Brecht :: Drama

Bertolt Brecht.Brecht was born Augsburg, Germany in 1898. He then attended universityin Munich in 1917. It was while he was at university that he witnessedthe Bolshevik Revolution which was the foremost event to entice him.Brecht wanted what had occurred in Russia to repeat itself in Germanyas he saw all there was to gain from a Revolution. This was the get-goinfluence that gave Brecht his voice in social and semipolitical issues.In 1918 Brecht was called up for World War 1 as a medical orderly. here(predicate) he witnessed some of the worst medical injuries created by thewar. This experience make him an extreme pacifist. This was the secondmost influential event that took place which in turn caused him to bein opposition to those international opinionated political powers. Hesaw them as being capitalist populations, sending impartial men to bemurdered meaninglessly, for their own efficient profitable gain. Hefelt misery as the human potential completely contradicted its blamel essmeaning by the brute actions of humans around the world.Marxism was the influence that gave Brecht expect that there was goodwithin humans although some needed re-awakening. He had seen theRussian Revolution and witnessed the collapse of Germany after WorldWar 1 and the fall of the Royal Family of Europe. This all influencedBrecht to write his first play Baal in 1918. This raw play andepisodic structure was the youth of Brechts by and by well-known work,which inhabited a more than grotesque quality. His work looks at theincapability one has to have power over the lust and esurience in theworld. He uses the element of shock in his plays as he relates to hisyearning for deviate and fury at his experiences. It was this yearningto bring change via the use of shock that bought us epic mansion.In 1922 Brecht went to Berlin and this experienced gave him theinfluence for all his later work. Here he observed real theatre andthe cabaret, parts of theatre he never knew existed. This i nfluencemade him more culturally aware and gave him the fellowship to develophis work.Aesthetic theatre was influenced by expressionalism, the use ofvarious scenes without any rational order. He discarded draft roomcomedy, realism and naturalism. Instead he took influences from EdwinPiscator whom considered theatre as a device for political education.Edwin Piscator used different means in which to convey his politicalmessage. He used news-real, projections and captions to portray thebackground knowledge of the play. He also used great chorus scenes,perceived in traditional Broadway or West- End performances, todemonstrate the significance of the play.