My realization
I am currently working on a play by Brecht (translated into Bengali by Utpal Dutta).
This is my first direction of Brecht’s play and I have noticed certain interesting elements in his plays- which I have read so far.
The most striking one is a lack of names for characters and the liberal use of songs to set the tone. This particular play (Bangla adaptation named ‘Samadhaan’) betrays no emotion of his life-long leaning towards Communism, rather jabs the communist system in the rib cage on a number of occasions.
The second unmistakable element is the use of spass or comedy as a technique to highlight political message of the play.
To be honest, I am still not fully aware of the Brechtian acting methods. It will be really challenging experience to Break The Fourth Wall by allowing the characters to directly address the crowd. The relief is that according to Brechtian prescription, songs have to be played in the background, so the difficulty in finding out a singer-actor can be dodged to a great extent. Unlike the dramatic theatre, this epic theatre format of Brecht require distancing of the actors from the characters- an art which very few could master. Overall, a political, linear, minimalistic and unemotional display at the risk of loosing popular applause presents a very challenging situation to the director and the actors. Can we survive this ruthless prescription? – Let’s see.