![]() A number of acting and staging techniques in Brecht’s writings on epic theatre were initially developed by, or in collaboration with Piscator. Although now both working in Berlin at the same time, the only known collaboration between Brecht and Piscator was in 1927-28 when Piscator adapted for the stage the Czech novel The Good Soldier Schweik, with Brecht as one of his dramaturges. The two men quickly became highly accomplished theatre directors. Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera, Berlin, 1928. Brecht’s first play, Baal, was completed in 1918 at the age of just twenty, while his second play, Drums in the Night, was performed in Munich four years later. He soon started writing theatre reviews for a German newspaper while creating his own dramatic works in his spare time. As a practising director, Piscator had a significant opportunity to implement and refine his ideas.īrecht’s introduction to drama began while studying medicine at Munich University. ![]() The early days of epic theatre were spearheaded by Piscator, who worked extensively in Berlin theatres between 19, first at the Volksbühne, then the Comedy-Theatre, and later at his own Piscator-Bühne. These great poems comprised many of the elements Piscator and Brecht wished to include in their theatre. Works such as Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, the Indian epics The Mahabharata and The Ramayana, and Milton’s Paradise Lost are vast poems spanning multiple time frames and locations, often containing a narrator figure and an episodic structure. Although Brecht would soon claim the notion of an “epic theatre” as his own idea, there is evidence the term was previously being used in debates in avant-garde circles before this.Įpic references the great epic poems of literature. See the disclosure page for more info.Įpic theatre was first practised by Erwin Piscator (1893-1966) and Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) in Berlin in the 1920s. When you purchase a product from an affiliate link, I may receive compensation at no cost to you. ![]() This post may contain a small selection of relevant affiliate links.
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