DISB036 B. Brecht and Epic Theatre

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/5. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Martina Musilová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Martina Musilová, Ph.D.
Department of Theatre Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: doc. Mgr. Martina Musilová, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Theatre Studies – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course is mainly dealing with acting and dramaturgy. The course also define Brecht’s sources of inspiration and periods of work. Students have an opportunity to get to know historical documents: historical photos, video-recording of Mother Courage and her Children. Certain lessons are devoted to the reading of selected Brecht's essays.

The course is held in Czech.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course student will be able to:
- define the phenomena of engaged and political theatre;
- describe the history of German leftist theatre of interwar period;
- define main principles of Brecht's epic theatre - structure of drama, directing, acting;
- interpret and analyse Brecht's plays.
Syllabus
  • 1. Piscator's epic theatre
  • 2. The first performances of Brecht's epic theatre: Man is Man, Arise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny; epic acting of P. Lorre; The influence of slapstick
  • 3. Lehrstücks (1929 - 1934) – engaged and didactic theatre, propaganda of communism, the relationship to public; Texts of six didactic plays and Mother according Gorky
  • 4. Theoretical text from the period of emigration – The Street scene (basic model scene of epic theatre); Alienation effects in Chinese acting; V. Šklovskij: Theory of a Prose; D. Diderot: Paradox of the Actor
  • 5. Analyse of the play The Good Person of Szechwan
  • 6. Model performances and model books – Mother Courage and her Children (a movie); The Caucasian Chalk Circle; Mr Puntila and his Man Matti – the acting style of Berliner Ensemble
  • 7. Short Description of a New Technique of Acting which Produces an Alienation Effect
Literature
    required literature
  • Brecht, Bertolt: Divadelní hry 1, SNKLHU, Praha 1963.
  • BRECHT, Bertolt. Divadelní hry. Edited by Bertolt Brecht, Translated by Ludvík Kundera - Rudolf Vápeník - Jar. Vydání v SNKLHU 1. Praha: Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umění, 1959, 299 s. info
  • BRECHT, Bertolt. Divadelní hry. 3 [Brecht, 1961] : Dny komuny (Obsaž.) : Dobrý člověk ze S´-Čchuanu (Orig.) : Kavkazský křídový kruh (Obsaž.) : Pan Puntila a jeho služebník Matti (Obsaž.) : Švejk za II. světové války (Obsaž.) : Vidění Simony Machardové (Obsaž.) : Zadrži. Vyd. 1. Praha: Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umění, 1961, 355 s. info
  • BRECHT, Bertolt. Divadelní hry. Edited by Bertolt Brecht, Translated by Ludvík Kundera - Rudolf Vápeník. Vyd. 1. Praha: Odeon, 1984, 439 s. info
  • BRECHT, Bertolt. Divadelní hry. Edited by Bertolt Brecht, Translated by Ludvík Kundera - Marie Liehmová - Rudo. Vyd. 1. Praha: Odeon, 1978, 277 s. info
  • BRECHT, Bertolt. O divadelnom umení. Edited by Ján Rozner, Translated by Ernest Marko. 1. vyd. Bratislava: Slovenské vydavateľstvo krásnej literatúry, 1959, 331 s. info
  • Brecht, Bertolt: Kupování mosazi, Brno 2009.
  • KUNDERA, Ludvík. Brecht. Vyd. 1. Brno: Janáčkova akademie múzických umění, 1998, 293 s. ISBN 8085429381. info
  • MUSILOVÁ, Martina. Fauefekt.Vlivy Brechtova epického divadla a zcizujícího efektu v českém moderním herectví (Fauefekt,Influences of Brechtian Epic Theatre and the Alienation Effect in modern Czech Acting). první. Praha: NAMU a Brkola, s.r.o., 2010, 310 pp. ISBN 978-80-7331-201-5. info
  • ŠKLOVSKIJ, Viktor Borisovič. Theorie prózy. Translated by Bohumil Mathesius. 2., přehl. vyd. V Praze: Melantrich, 1948, 282 s. info
  • PARKER, Stephen. Bertolt Brecht. Praha: Nakladatelství Akademie múzických umění, 2019
    recommended literature
  • ADORNO, Theodor W. Estetická teorie. Translated by Dušan Prokop. 1. vyd. Praha: Panglos, 1997, 581 s. ISBN 8090220541. info
Teaching methods
lecture, individual reading, discussion, video documentation
Assessment methods
Written test, oral exam. Pass-fail line is 70%.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught: every week.
Teacher's information
http://divadlo.phil.muni.cz/
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