The LehrstДјCke Project
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The LehrstДјcke Project
Bertolt Brecht developed groundbreaking theories over his lifetime that transformed the world of theatre, and effectively demonstrated his belief in its decay by the bourgeois. One such theory, that of Lehrstļcke, utilized Brecht’s epic techniques to create a type of performance that had no base script or boundary between the actors and the audience. It was this project, one that encompassed four of Brecht’s plays, that encompassed many of the techniques he had developed earlier into one giant example of true epic theatre.
Brecht believed that the characteristic of bourgeois theatre separated the audience and the actor, and thus, detracted from the performance. Ironically, Brecht believed this separation alienated the audience, and thus, he developed LehrstДјcke, despite the fact that he also taught his actors The Alienation Effect. However, Brecht thought that by eliminating the boundaries between the actors and the audience, the emphasis in performance shifted from the play being performed to the process by which it was performed.
According to Brecht, the goal of the play was for the actor to acquire an attitude that portrayed the message of the play, as opposed to just entertaining an audience. This concept ties into Brecht’s theory of gestus. Henry MДјller’s book, “The Geste of Citation: Three Points,” describes gestus as thus:
“Gestus, as the embodiment of an attitude, carries at least two distinct meanings in Brechts theatre: firstly, the uncovering or revealing of the motivations and transactions that underpin a dramatic exchange between the characters; secondly, the epic narration of that character by the actor (whether explicitly or implicitly).”
Brecht used his gestus method in lieu of traditional dramatic mimesis.