LESSON ONE

We were introduced to the world of political theatre today by discussing in groups of five the answer to the question posed by Sarah, 'what is theatre?'.

Here are some of my own notes on what theatre is:

• A medium of education.

• A form of expressionism.

• Theatre is  a tool that dissolves ignorance in the world and conveys truth and reality to a sometimes fake world. 

• A way of experiencing the abnormal.

• A way of uniting people across the world, of all races and nationalities.

• A stress relief that allows people to have emotional relief, or experience unusual emotions.

• A form of escapism.

• A tool that allows people to be in touch with their imaginations.

• A way of conveying honesty and truth.

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)

We also learnt about famous theatre practitioner and playwright, Bertolt Brecht. We learnt that Brecht likes to flip the reality of the world and create a style of theatre called Epic Theatre. This involves grand sets and a contrasting form of theatre to dramatic theatre. Brechts type of theatre goes against what we have learnt about Stanislavsky, as he preaches naturalism, whereas Brecht is more for caricatures.

Here is a list of the differences between Dramatic Theatre and Epic Theatre:

Source: Brecht, Bertolt, Willet, John. Brecht on Theatre. Methuen, 1982.

Protest Groups

Today we discussed in a group of five, issues that are important to us. This is for a political protest to take place during break time around the BRIT School site. It is is important for us to stress issues that are current and need highlighting now. Examples like the Black Lives Matter protests, police brutality, Syrian conflicts and the migrant crisis all came up and were all valid points. My group (Me, Phoebe, Sherene, Harmony, Leanne) decided to brain storm ideas.

Idea One: 

Chemical Weapons

We dress in grey jumpsuits, and cover our faces with either a surgical mask, gas mask or bandanna. We the play the sound of an air raid siren, and whilst that happen we frantically throw red paint (fake blood) at each other. We will have different placards scattered around of information for example, death toll and location. 

Source: The Gaurdian

Idea Two:

Aleppo Brutality

One of us is an officer and the others are civilians. The officer grabs hold of the civilians and lines them with their hands behind their head, kneeling against a wall. The officer then questions them about immature things, highlighting how they don't care about the people, just fighting.