Epic Theatre: The Influences of Bertolt Brecht Essay -- Theater, Dram

Response Essay â€Å"Theatre makes us think about power and the way our society works and it does this with a clear purpose, to make a change.† The ideas of Bertolt Brecht (1898-1965) changed the theatre in many ways. Brecht along with Erwin Piscator developed the style of Epic theatre style contrasting to previous accepted styles. Presentational in form, Epic theatre is a vehicle for social comment through techniques such as: alienation, historification, eclectic influences (highly Asian), constructivism in scenery, disjointed and illogical scene placement, ordinary clothing and lighting, the use of music to detach the audience from emotion, placards and signs and projected images. Didactic in nature Brecht’s works aim to challenge the audience to assess socially accepted norms and educate them to injustices often overlooked by the public. The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Brecht, 1944) written during the time of Nazi Germany occupation has a clearly political and social focus. The Caucasian Chalk Circle (CCC) is a play of two stories which eventually are interweaved. Scene 1 is a prologue to the action of the play that serves as a metaphor for the entire play â€Å"struggle between what is right legally and what right socially†. The protagonist from the first story is Grusha, a simple maid who sacrifices her safety and youth to protect Governor’s child. Scenes 2-4 focus exclusively on Grusha’s story. Scene 5 introduces the protagonist for the second story, the drunk judge Adzak. Scene 6 brings the two protagonists together and is the climatic action of the play. Scenes 5 and 6 focus more on social problems being that the base of society- the justice system. The audience experiences the drunken judge take bribes and rule in favour of thos... ...onal connection. The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht is a perfect example of the conventions Epic theatre uses to alienate the audience form emotion connection in order to allow an objective viewing of the themes and issue presented. These being ones of social order: is the social structure and legal systems providing fair and just rulings and procedures? By examination of Post World War Two damages we see the effects of war then as a result consciously attempt to prevent it and change our situation. This is an effective way of challenging and informing the contemporary audience as it is visual and audibly dynamic as well as informative, the medium of live theatre is intense and it allows audience members to ascertain meaning together. This sparks discussion which will lead to the individual assessing and attempting to change the way in which society works.

Musical Hair Critiquing Essay

1) What show are you critiquing? Hair 2) Give a brief summary of the story line. Claude Hooper Bukowski, an Oklahoma farm boy, heads to New York City to enter the Army and serve in the Vietnam War. In Central Park, he meets a troupe of free-spirited hippies led by George Berger, a young man who introduces him to debutante Sheila Franklin when they crash a dinner party at her home. Inevitably, Claude is sent off to recruit training in Nevada, but Berger and his band of merry pranksters follow him. Sheila flirts with an off-duty Sergeant in order to steal his uniform, which she gives to Berger. He uses it to extract Claude from the base for a last meeting with Sheila, taking his place, but while Claude is away, the unit flies out to Vietnam, taking Berger with them. The film ends with the main cast singing at Berger’s grave, followed by scenes of a large anti-war protest outside the White House in Washington, DC. 3) What did you like best about this show? Hair succeeds at all levels—as lowdown fun, as affecting drama, as exhilarating spectacle and as provocative social observation. It achieves its goals by rigorously obeying the rules of classic American musical comedy: dialogue, plot, song and dance blend seamlessly to create a juggernaut of excitement. 4) What did you like least about this show? The film omits the songs â€Å"The Bed†, â€Å"Dead End†, â€Å"Oh Great God of Power†, â€Å"I Believe in Love†, â€Å"Going Down†, â€Å"Air†, â€Å"My Conviction†, â€Å"Abie Baby†, â€Å"Frank Mills†, and â€Å"What a Piece of Work is Man† from the musical. Many of the songs have been shortened, sped up, rearranged, or assigned to different characters to allow for the differences in plot. 5) Who was the hero/heroine? Claude Hooper Bukowski/ Sheila Franklin. 6) Who was the villain? The General. 7) Were you able to understand everything? If not what did you understand? A major plot difference between the film and the musical involves a mistake that leads Berger to go to Vietnam in Claude’s place, where he is killed. The musical focuses on the U.S. peace movement, as well as the love relationships among the Tribe members, while the film focuses on the carefree antics of the hippies. But why not make the film ending a happy one? In that case, the movie will better reflect the aspect of American Culture â€Å"Happy Ever After†. 8) Did you get a chance to listen to the soundtrack? Unfortunately not. 9) What was your favorite song? â€Å"Aquarius†. 10) Did you think that the actors were well cast? Sure. The cast featured John Savage as Claude Hooper Bukowski, Treat Williams as George Berger and Beverly D’Angelo as Sheila Franklin. Williams was nominated for New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Male. 11) If you were to remake this show who would you cast in the title roles? Why? If I were to remake the show, I would sill choose the actor and actress as the hero and heroine. The actors are really good-looking, and they can sing and dance well. 12) What aspect of American Culture do you see in this show? Nothing ventured nothing gained. Berger is not only at the heart of the hippie Tribe but is assigned some of Claude’s conflict involving whether or not to obey the draft. His death led to the large anti-war protest and featured the carefree antics of the hippies.

Recurrent Themes in Maus I A Survivor’s Tale My Father...

Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman could be considered a graphic novel on the verge of falling into the realm of the novel. The one thing that keeps it from falling is that â€Å"hands† narrate the story, as noted by Spiegelman when describes comics as â€Å"a vital and expressive language that talks with its hands†. In fact, handwriting is an incredibly recurrent theme in the book, and to be specific, page 51 is representative of this. There is the obvious idea that handwriting represents the tone and mood and expresses the characters’ feelings. For example, â€Å"hang† is bolded in the frame in the top right corner of page 51, signifying the contempt and villainous tone in the Nazi’s voice towards the Jews. Moving on, there is another component of this theme of handwriting that make this theme a very complex one. To clarify, page 51 brings up the most important facet of this theme—self-awareness. The frame in the bottom left corner of the page depicts a Nazi’s hand clutching Vladek’s (the upper one is of the former and the lower one is of the latter). There are several differences between the two hands that allow one to identify them. These contrasts represent the self-awareness of Vladek, who blatantly shows that he knows that he was helpless in the Holocaust and that it completely changed his life almost as if it was thrust upon him. One such difference is that the one on the bottom does not have a scratch on it and is very delicate while the other

The Decision Making And Judgement Calls - 1124 Words

Most decisions are made with analysis, but some are judgment calls not susceptible to analysis due to time or information constraints. Please write about a judgment call you’ve made recently that couldn’t be analyzed. It can be a big or small one, but should focus on a business issue. What was the situation, the alternatives you considered and evaluated, and your decision making process? Be sure to explain why you chose the alternative you did relative to others considered. It feels as if we rarely have situations with sufficient data to make decisions clear and absolute. Maybe those situations do occur frequently, but because they are obvious, we don’t even register them as decisions. Leadership hinges on effective decision making and judgement calls. That includes gathering information for analysis when available, but also recognizing how not to be caught in analysis paralysis. Effective leaders constantly evaluate the situation, recognize the benefits , risks, and constraints and move forward. Nothing impedes an organization more than inability to commit to a path forward. As Intel’s facilities organization worked to transition the entire structure of how we contracted and executed construction projects on Intel’s Ronler Acres campus, I made countless judgement calls. One in particular stands out. I needed to decide if we would use cost based incentives as part of the contracting strategy and execution processes, and if we decided to use them, how it wouldShow MoreRelatedThe Issue Of Abortion And Abortion876 Words   |  4 PagesAbortion is one of the most debatable and controversial issues that exists in our society. An abortion is a medical procedure that terminates a pregnancy before 24 weeks. 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Should Abortion Be Legal - 1052 Words

Abortion is a personal matter and is a very sacred and sensitive topic. The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy is what we know of as an abortion. Although abortion is considered to be immorally wrong to some people, it should be a fundamental right for women to control their own bodies. Abortions are one of the many things that everyone has an opinion on. It is one of the most controversial topics anyone will not agree upon. When abortion is discussed, people tend to assume one of two positions: â€Å"pro-life† or â€Å"pro-choice.† Pro-life is the view that the woman should not have the ability to terminate a human life. Pro-choice is the belief that the woman carrying an unborn baby should be given the right to decide whether the baby†¦show more content†¦Planned parenthood is the center of attention in the abortion debate in the U.S. It has also been the biggest target for pro-life activists to shutdown the organization. However, Planned Parenthood claims that it does not use the tax money to fund abortion services. On a psychological standpoint, women tend to have lifelong regrets after having an abortion. Young women are usually ignorant on their decisions because of their insufficient experience with life. They tend to not fully understa nd what they are doing and this may cause psychological stress and pain. According to the American Pregnancy Association, â€Å"Potential side effects include: regret, anger, guilty feelings, shame eating disorders, depression, anxiety, insomnia etc.† Pro-Choice activists have set arguments for the services of abortions and why women should be given a choice. Abortions are safe and legal medical procedures that mostly take place in the first couple of months of after conception. New studies have shown that it is safer than giving childbirth. â€Å"Although more than half of states counsel women on the risks of abortion, a study published online Monday in Obstetrics Gynecology finds that a legal abortion is actually far safer than giving birth† (Rochman). Controversy on rape and incest are the main arguments

None Provided5 Argumentative Essay Example For Students

None Provided5 Argumentative Essay Boston Massacre- on March 5, 1770, five years before the American Revolution,there was a dispute between British troops and a group of citizens of Boston. British troops were quartered in the city to discourage ideas against the Townshend Acts, that imposed duties on imports to the colonies. Citizens would always harass the troops, and during a demonstration, a squad of British soldiers were hit by missiles thrown by the colonists. The soldiers fired into the crowd and killed five men, one was Crispus Attucks, who was leading the group. The eight soldiers were tried for murder and were defended by John Adams, and Josiah Quincy. the two soldiers were declared guilty of manslaughter, and were branded on the thumb; the others, including the officer, were acquitted. The incident was skillfully exploited by the American patriot Samuel Adams to create anti-British sentiment in the colonies. Bibliography:Boston Massacre, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Brain Dysfunction free essay sample

The video also discusses the region of the human brain that can be linked to crime/evil. I do believe now that people can be born with genetic factors that make them prone to crime and violence but only in the right conditions mainly a dysfunctional environment. Chris Benoit a famous wrestler showed great damage in his brain due to years of receiving concussions. His brains frontal lobe showed huge amounts of damaged cells and he wound up getting into religion, which is a classic sign of brain damage. Chris benoit wound up killing his wife, son and himself for no apparent reason. After his death his family allowed science to study his brain and the hypothesis that crime can be a side effect of brain damage was proven. The fact is that brain damage due to injury or medical reasons can cause criminal behavior. There are many links discovered that show a connection between biological factors and criminal tendencies, however, I do not believe that biological factors alone can cause people to become violent or become criminals. We will write a custom essay sample on Brain Dysfunction or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I do not I believe that criminality or criminal tendencies can be passed down biologically. What I do believe is that poor parenting and the environmental factors not only play a part but also are he catalyst to criminal tendencies. The environment in Brain Dysfunction in Criminal Behavior which the child is raised in may make him/her more prone to be a criminal and or have less self-regulation than others, which can lead to criminality. â€Å"The origins of self-regulation stem from genetic and environmental factors occurring in early home family environments and later in peer networks. As mentioned earlier, self-regulation is so intimately related to crime that it could be said that antisocial behavior begins where self-regulation ends† (Delisi, 2013). Another fact to consider is the fact that most behavior is learned and/or imitated to include criminal behavior and thought processes behind criminality are also a learned process. I think that the link is how that biological factor has been addressed and treated before that person commits crime, in other words besides the biological issue one has to take into account how and what has happened in that persons past along with taking into account that persons environment in which he/she was raised in which may or may not have failed to influenced him/her positively. Finally, the impairments in personality functioning must be relatively stable across time and situations, cannot be better understood as developmentally or culturally normative, and cannot be solely due to the direct physiological effects of a substance or medical condition† (Lynam, amp; Vachon, 2012). Again biological factors alone cannot be the sole reason crime exists or the cause of crime within a human. In the ABC video â€Å"The Brain and Violence: Secrets of Your Mind† they highlighted Doctor James Fallon who studies the neurological factors and genetic factors that are commonly found in serial killers and violent crime offenders found the same neurological factors and genetic factors that are commonly found in serial killers and violent crime offenders in his DNA Brain Dysfunction in Criminal Behavior nd neurological brain scans. Doctor Fallon credits his upbringing, a healthy environment with love, as the explanation as to why he has not become a violent criminal offender even though he has the same neurological factors and genetic factors as found in serial killers and violent crime offenders â€Å"(ABC Inc. , 2010)†. After viewing the ABC video â€Å"The Brain and Violence: Secrets of Your Mind† It shows that people can be biologically predisposed to commit crime and violence, however, that even if the same neurological and genetic factors that lead to crime are present in a person the lack of a healthy environment is much more responsible for causing a person to become a criminal or commit violent acts. People can live there whole life as normal citizens that do not commit crime even if they are biologically at risk to become criminal offenders as long as they are raised right in a loving environment. REFERENCES Delisi, M. (2013). Criminal psychology. San Diego, CA : Bridgepoint Education. Retrieved from https://content. ashford. edu/books/AUCRJ308. 13. 1/sections/copyright ABC. Inc. (2010). The Brain and Violence: Secrets of Your Mind [Web]. Retrieved from http://digital. films. com/OnDemandEmbed. aspx? Token=48023amp;aid=18596amp;Plt=FODamp;loid=0amp;w=640amp;h=480amp;ref= Lynam, D. R. amp; Vachon, D. D. (2012). Antisocial personality disorder in DSM-5: Missteps and missed opportunities. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, And Treatment, 3(4), 483-495. doi:10. 1037/per0000006 Law, B. (Producer) (2007). In the shadow of feeling [Web]. Retrieved from http://digital. films. com/OnDemandEmbed. aspx? Token=40667amp;aid=18596amp;Plt=FODamp;loid=0amp;w=640amp;h=480amp;ref=