Introduction
Epic theatre (German: episches Theater ) is a theatrical
movement that emerged in the early to mid-20th century. It was shaped by the
theories and practices of theatre practitioners like Bertolt Brecht, who
responded to the political climate of the time by creating a new form of
political theatre. At a time when melodrama, realism, and naturalism were
popular theatre forms, Brecht rejected what he perceived as the "shallow
spectacle, manipulative plots, and heightened emotion" of melodrama. He
proposed epic theatre as a major alternative, particularly to the early
naturalistic approach (and later "psychological realism") developed
by Konstantin Stanislavski. These naturalistic styles tried to recreate real
life on stage, with the idea that the audience should believe the story and
characters in the play were real. Brecht saw this traditional theatre as
escapism, a place "where the audience could forget about their lives for a
while", and criticized that it "did not make the audience think"
which he "saw as a huge waste of an audience." He wanted people to
question and challenge, not simply accept and enjoy, and therefore created a
new form of theatre designed to make the audience question and think about what
they were watching. A staunch Marxist, Brecht’s plays often had a political and
social message.
Alienation Effects
In the realistic theatre of illusion, Brecht argued, the
spectator tended to identify with the characters on stage and become
emotionally involved with them, rather than being stirred to think about his
own life. To encourage a critical perspective, Brecht introduced the
Verfremdungseffekt , or alienation effect. This technique aimed to direct the
audience’s attention to the artifice of the theatre. It involved disrupting the
audience's immersion in the narrative by "doing something
unexpected", breaking the rhythm of the scene, so that "the audience
stops getting lost in the emotion, story and characters" and "are
able to start to think and question." It was "seen as a ‘slap in the
face with a wet fish’ to wake everyone up." The idea with ‘alienation
effects’ was to constantly remind the audience they were in a theatre, watching
a play. These techniques break the illusion of drama, so the audience does not
get lost in the story or the characters, but instead "are constantly reminded
that these are actors communicating ideas and situations to them."
Techniques of Epic Theatre
Some of the techniques that were used by Brecht were:
- Plays
were performed with the house lights on so that audience members remained
aware of each other during the performance.
- Music
and dancing were used to break up the action of the play, or scenes were
sung rather than spoken.
- Placards
were used to give information to the audience.
- All
of the characters might be dressed in black rather than individually costumed.
- Brecht
preferred to call the audience ‘spectators’ and his focus was always on
the society being presented in the play, not individual characters;
- Events
in plays were sometimes told from the viewpoint of a single storyteller.
He believed that the actor’s job was merely to show what
happened, and did not want actors to identify with the character or to play the
role realistically, which was the opposite of Stanislavski’s purpose.
The Concept of Anatta
Brecht’s theatre style and techniques of alienation provide
a way to gain an understanding of the ‘no self’ or ‘anatta’ doctrine preached
by the Buddha. Anatta means ‘no self,’ and the doctrine of anatta
is one of the three characteristics or marks of existence, alongside
impermanence (anithya ) and suffering ( dukkha ), declared by the Buddha as
doorways to liberation ( Vimukthi Mukha ). Being subject to conditionality, the
teachings state, all things (including people and sentient beings) are
impermanent and therefore cause suffering; anything that causes suffering
cannot be taken as ‘self’ and thus is ‘anatta’.
The analogy of a cinema experience: Cinema is like an
illusion that can captivate the viewer, binding them to the story and
characters unfolding on the screen. Although what is displayed on the screen is
a series of moving images produced by light rays projected onto it, the viewer,
not seeing this reality, perceives them as real events and becomes attached to
them. For example, when watching an action movie, the viewer becomes shocked,
frightened, and emotional due to the thrilling scenes, car crashes, and burning
buildings depicted in it. They grieve when their favorite character is defeated
in fight scenes. This is because the viewer projects their mental conceptions
onto the events and characters unfolding on the screen, becoming emotionally
attached to it. They are unaware of the acting, makeup, technical effects, and
editing involved in the film's production. However, if the film's director were
watching the same movie, they would not experience such unusual joy, sadness,
or shock. This is because they are well aware of all the makeup, acting,
technical effects, and editing that took place behind the scenes of the
production they directed. They know that the burning buildings that appear real
are actually cardboard models and that the damaged vehicles are toy cars. In a
way, if the viewer also understood how they are being deceived in front of the
screen, instead of being thrilled and frightened, they would find it amusing.
The emotional attachments as said (to the illusion created on the screen) that arise within the individual viewer are due to his or her mistaken perception driven by delusion. Just as Brecht sought to break the theatrical illusion to reveal a deeper truth, the Buddha's teachings aim to penetrate the illusion of self to reveal the path to liberation.
Perception of Self & Cause for Suffering
The Buddha identified these emotional attachments as
clinging (upadana). He saw how people are deluded in this manner,
embracing what is essentially unwholesome as wholesome, impermanent as
permanent, unpleasant as pleasant and non-self as self. The cinema screen made
of fabric is not self, and the images created by light rays projected on the
screen are not self, however, the spectator ignores this and tends to grasp the
superficial storyline as real. There is no difference to this and our real-life
experiences. We project perceptions of self that arise in the mind on external
objects and tend to believe that our conceptions belong to them or, in other
words, that they are real, like in the cinema experience. According to the
Buddha, this is the cause of much of the distress and pain humans inflict upon
themselves and others through greed, fear, ignorance, hatred and
self-deception.
Epic Theatre and Freedom from Suffering
Bertolt Brecht believed that theatre should appeal not to
the spectator's feelings but to his (or her) reason. While still providing
entertainment, it should be strongly didactic and capable of provoking social
change. Brecht revolutionized theatre and turned it into a tool for looking at
the big issues that affect society. He made it possible for theatre to make a
difference. The Buddha, on the other hand, saw beyond the world and revealed
how we are entrapped in an existence of suffering due to delusion of grasping
to self-views, therefore being unable to see things as they really are. He
taught that liberation from this suffering requires the cultivation of Right
View (Samma Ditti). This Right View dispels ignorance and gives rise to the
knowledge (vidya) of reality. It is the key to understanding suffering, its
cause, its end, and the path to its end. This understanding foster detachment
from internally generated conceptions, removing craving, and culminating in the
freedom of Nibbana."
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