Antonin Artaud and Bertolt Brecht
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The theater of Antonin Artaud and Bertolt Brecht is radically different with respect to the purpose and goals of the respective playwrights with respect to the impact of their works on audiences and society. If ArtaudÆs theater of cruelty and BrechtÆs epic theater are distinct, then so are their goals for audience impact. Artaud hoped by showing images of manÆs cruelty to man, audience members would experience a form of ôdeliriumö whereby they would ôexperience trances and inspirationö leading to personal change, (Fowlie, p. 203). If ArtaudÆs surreal works of theater were meant to inspire transformation and change on the micro- or individual level, then BrechtÆs epic theater was designed to bring about change on the macro- or social level. Brecht attempted social change with his ôepic theater,ö plays that engaged viewers by presenting objects, issues, and characters to alienate, (Bertolt, p. 1). Brecht maintained the point of production was to ôtake the subject matter and the incidents shown and put them through a process of alienation: the alienation that is necessary to all understanding,ö (Bertolt, p. 1). This analysis will explore the ideas and philosophies of theater exhibited in the writings and works of these two playwrights. A conclusion will address their impact on the works of other playwrights, like In describing the goal of his epic theater, Bertolt Brecht (p. 1) wrote that ôWhen something seems the mo
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, p. 204). Artaud believed that if the playwright is able to direct audiences back to a state of mind that is one of dreams and primitive instincts, then the viewed will discover himself or herself in a ôworld that is bloodthirsty and inhuman,ö (Fowlie, p. 206). In a sense, the subjects and images of ArtaudÆs plays were to create a primal scream, so-to-speak, in the viewer that would lead him or her back to a primal state of nature, a break with illusion, and a greater chance for happiness and self-fulfillment.
In BrechtÆs epic theater, the change stems from the spectatorÆs recognition that no humane or just society would permit the alienation of individuals evident in any number of his plays. In one of his most renowned plays, ôMother Courage and Her Children,ö Brecht provides us with the impact on individuals of a society that willfully participates in military conflict to achieve its aims among other nations. In this play we are treated to the character of Mother Courage, whose children are sacrificed to the war but it is the very same war which provides Mother Courage and others like her a living. The action occurs during the Thirty YearÆs War. The owner of a canteen wagon, Mother Courage has three children, Eilif, Swis
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Approximate Word count = 1514
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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