The Art Snob Archive

Brecht - Mar 16 2007

My dear readers, there is nothing sweeter than being alienated by a piece of theatre. Some things come close; being physically abused by a piece of music, for instance, or sexually harassed by an oil painting. Hell, sometimes I even enjoy being drugged by a decent bit of literature. But going to see a play that denies superficial illusion, that encourages the viewer to be critical and conscious, to participate in the dialectics of the drama; now that is an experience.

If you’ve never had the privilege of such a sensation, my friends, you’re in luck. Bertolt Brecht is coming to Waterloo.

Indeed, the influential German dramatist who introduced “the Alienation Effect” has been exhumed from his steel coffin in Berlin, reanimated through a complex chemical procedure, and transported across the Atlantic to our fair University where he has been granted an office in the bowels of Modern Languages. Or, the UW Drama Department is staging a production of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle this weekend and next in the Theatre of the Arts.

The Arts Snob, for one, welcomes Brecht’s brand of “Epic Theatre” to our humble city with open arms. I’ve had a real craving for some Verfremdungseffekt lately, and it was this German playwright who gave the movement momentum, consolidating a theatre technique that moulds methods of clear description and commentary around an engaging social/political focus. Essentially, plays like the Caucasian Chalk Circle act to destroy the ‘fourth wall’ which separates the audience from the action; characters are self-reflective, speak to the audience, and are often modeled around archetypes in order to encourage onlookers to discriminate and decide.

Brecht believed that Art “is not a mirror with which to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.” His plays reflect this ideal, working as a venue to educate and challenge the audience. Fighting the complacency bred by illusion, Brecht modeled his plays as “political seminars” during which onlookers are encouraged to develop a critical perspective regarding specific issues. The audience is constantly reminded that what they are witnessing is indeed reality, a consciousness fortified by the use of unnatural stage lighting, speaking out of stage directions, and instances in which actors directly address the crowd.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle was written in the 1940s, partially in reaction to the Nazism and Fascism that had enveloped Brecht’s home country. It is thus no surprise that the playwright asks the audience to consider issues of morality in the play, a dialogue accompanied by other discussions on motherhood and usefulness. This inclusion of real and universal themes has ensured the continued relevance of Brecht’s work, and indeed his innovations regarding Epic Theatre and Audience Alienation have been widely adopted by the modernist and post-modernist movements.

The UW performance of Caucasian Chalk Circle marks the first full production of Ross Manson’s translation of the play, and although I am a bit disappointed that director Alex Fallis sought out a Canadian version as opposed to simply employing subtitles (a decision he admits he wrestled with), I am interested in observing how Brecht’s Soviet parable will engage a modern Western audience.

In one of his early productions, Brecht put up signs around the theatre reading “Don’t Stare So Romantically!” Hopefully the UW version of Caucasian Chalk Circle will be able to slap the audience in the face as effectively as this. There is nothing sweeter, after all, than being pushed around by a piece of theatre. Godspeed.

posted by HLL @ Sunday, March 18, 2007