Bertolt Brecht was born in Germany in 1898, where he grew up in a middle-class family. He had strong social and political opinions that he believed in, as he discovered his love for theater and began writing his own plays finding the perfect place to express his opinions. The theater is historically a naturalistic style proposed by Stanislavski, however Brecht does not adopt this style, he developed a style of his "Epic Theatre", to persuade the audience to evoke social change. Epic theater involves an unrealistic approach with a political message and comic elements to present these techniques. Brecht's experiences influenced his political views, leaving Nazi Germany before World War II and after the war moving to Soviet-occupied East Germany, becoming a supporter of the Communist Party. His works were intended for the working class of the time to enable them to stand up for what they believe in and make a difference in their lives and that of their families, in order to change the capitalist oppression under which they lived. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayBrecht intended for his theater to attract people and express his political point of view by keeping the audience detached from what was happening on stage, seeing the stage as it is and the actors and people playing the characters. Verfremdungseffekt or V-effekt is a technique that creates distance between what happens on stage and the audience, and through this Brecht is able to provoke thought and achieve his goal of epic theatre. The V-effekt intends for the audience to become aware of their place in the theater at all times during the performance, encouraging spectators to think analytically, with a critical and questioning attitude. At no point during the production should an audience member be hypnotized or engaged in what they are watching. With this in mind actors can intentionally neglect the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience through speeches or monologues. Other techniques that can be used to distance the audience include the use of a narrator (The Caucasian Chalk Circle), songs and/or signs. Actors are able to use Gestus to reveal the goal of the performance through the tableau or gestures that have been made. by Brecht. The National Theater provides an example of this in their production of The Causaion Chalk Circle, adapted by Frank McGuinness. The scene sees the governor's wife, Nutella, smoking on the baby's pram. This scene shows complete contempt and careless attitude towards one's own child. This supports the separation between audience and stage. The audience is able to see the distinction between actor and character, as the actor proves his point, contradicting his character by not personalizing it with the gestures he uses. Brecht allowed his spectators to smoke and chat quietly in the theater, he wanted to make them feel comfortable and have fun, not wanting to be in an environment from which they wish to leave. Spass, the German word for fun, was a key part of Brecht's works. He believed that this made it more effective to convey a political and social message to the working class, while at the same time ensuring that his performances were fun and playful. Brecht believed that “a theater at which one cannot laugh is a theater at which one can laugh”. Through this belief Bertolt Brecht encouraged his audience to think critically, doing so through the use of spass to inspire them. Arts such as silent cinema and cabaretthey inspired Bertolt Brecht in the way they used spass. Bertolt Brecht used comedy as a political tool in most, if not all, of his plays. His specific theater uses comedy that is appropriate to the time the plays were built, but has now become redundant with the changing times. Most of Brecht's comedy was dark and ironic and shed light in the darkness, finding comedy in society rather than in an individual. Many people believe that due to comedy being appropriated at the time, especially using it as a political gimmick, the comedic aspect has been lost. Today it does not have the same effect on the audience that it intended when it was written. As times have changed since the creation of Brecht's works, characters designed to mock society and oppress the capitalist have become redundant and appear to be stereotyped for a modern audience. Brecht was clever in the way he incorporated comedy, without forcing or forcing it. the audience but instead using two contrasting acting styles together, or using exaggeration and irony. Brecht can place a balanced and "normal" character next to an overly exaggerated character. Both characters make political statements by expressing their side while one shows the other. An example of this can be found in The Caucasian Chalk Circle where Natella and Azdak seem to mock the upper classes of society while the peasant, Grusha remains sophisticated in The Chalk Circle scene. In this scene, although Natella is wealthy, Grusha proves herself to be a better mother, where what matters more than what's on the inside is wealth or appearance on the outside. This leaves it up to the audience to decide who would be the better mother. As stated before, fun and comedy can be seen in most if not all of Brecht's works. In Mother Courage and Her Children there are several scenes in particular that use comedy to convey Brecht's political views to the audience. In the first scene where his sons are conscripted, Brecht uses comedy through several lines such as. “If you piss on yourself I will settle for your brother”, or “the sensible thing is to stay with your mother, it doesn't matter if they make fun of you and call you chicken”, as well as Mother Courage being very exaggerated during the whole conscription process. Brecht uses them to make fun of the conscription process by demonstrating his political opinion about it. Another example of this is when Mother Courage's daughter, Kattrin, sacrifices herself to warn the people of the village of the impending attack. Mother Courage sings to Kattrin as she "falls asleep" or dies. There are several lines in the song such as "neighbors' kids go hungry and you will eat cake or, neighbors' kids grizzle but my kids are gay", indicating that this song is for that of a wealthy family. This is ironic because Mother Courage and her children have always been poor. This irony demonstrates Brecht's defense of communism, everyone being equal in stature and wealth. Through the use of comedy, or "spass", political and social messages could be highlighted and conveyed, from the stage to the audience in a light-hearted but also convincing way. manner. Brecht successfully achieved his goal of allowing the audience to analyze what they saw on stage and take it into account. Therefore, the audience was more likely to take away from the show the desire to make changes to the capitalist society in which they lived. However, productions of a Brechtian play made in the modern cultural and social sphere will probably not be successful in achieving Brecht's originality and originality. true intentions due to change.