Brecht & Barker

The similarities between Brecht’s model of Epic theatre and Howard Barker’s theatre of catastophe are striking.

I was recently going back over some texts on Brecht’s model of Epic theatre and was also reading Howard Barker’s Arguments for a Theatre and in these two passages the similarities are striking. If you are not familiar with the work of Howard Barker, I strongly recommend reading this available passage from his 6-hour epic The Ecstatic Bible and I would also recommend the other texts referenced here too.

From Brecht on Theatre (ed. John Willett, 1974 Methuen: London, p37)

DRAMATIC THEATRE EPIC THEATRE
plot narrative
implicates the spectator in a stage situation turns the spectator into an observer
wears down his capacity for action arouses his capacity for action
provides him with sensations forces him to take decisions
experience picture of the world
the spectator is involved in something he is made to face something
suggestion argument
instinctive feelings are preserved brought to the point of recognition
the spectator is in the thick of it, shares the experience the spectator stands outside, studies
the human being is taken for granted the human being is the object of the enquiry
he is unalterable he is alterable and able to alter
eyes on the finish eyes on the course
one scene makes another each scene for itself
growth montage
linear development in curves
evolutionary determinism jumps
man as a fixed point man as a process
thought determines being social being determines thought
feeling reason

From Arguments For a Theatre (Howard Barker, 1989 Manchester University Press: Manchester, p71)

HUMANIST THEATRE CATASTOPHIC THEATRE
We all really agree. We only sometimes agree.
When we laugh we are together. Laughter conceals fear.
Art must be understood. Art is a problem of understanding.
Wit greases the message. There is no message.
The actor is a man/woman not The actor is different in kind.
unlike the author.
The production must be clear. The audience cannot grasp

everything; nor could the author.
We celebrate our unity. We quarrel to love.
The critic is already The critic must suffer like
The message is important. The play is important.
The audience is educated The audience is divided
and goes home and goes home
happy disturbed
or or
fortified. amazed.
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Info and Credits

For information on Howard Barker's European theatre company see The Wrestling School Website

Visit Howard Barker's personal website.

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