How Bertolt Brecht Used Comedy as Political Device

Bertolt Brecht was born in Germany in 1898, were he was raised in a middle-class family. Had strong social and political views in which he believed, while he discovered his love of the theatre and began to write his own plays finding the perfect place to express his views. The theatre is historically of a naturalistic style proposed by Stanislavski, however Brecht does not adopt this style, he developed a style of his own ‘Epic Theatre’, to persuade an audience to evoke societal change. Epic Theatre, entails an unrealistic approach with a political message and comedic elements to present these techniques. Brechts own experiances have impacted his political views, leaving Nazi Germany before the 2nd World War, after the war, he moved to Soviet-occupied East Germany, becoming an advocate of the Communist party. His plays were meant for the working class of the time to enable them to stand up for what they believe and make differences in their lives and that of their families, in order to change the Capitalist oppression under which they lived.

Brecht intended his theatre to draw people in and express his political viewpoint while keeping the audience detached from what was occurring on stage, seeing the stage as it is and the actors and people playing characters. The verfremdungseffekt or V-effekt is a technique which creates distance between what is happening on stage and the audience, and through this brecht is able to provoke thought and achieve his aim of epic theatre. The V-effekt intends the audience to become to become aware of their place in the theatre at all times during the performance, encouraging the spectators to think analytically, with a critical and questioning attitude. No time during the production should an audience member be hypnotised or invested in what they are watching. With this in mind actors may 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 placards.

Actors are able to use Gestus to disclose the objective of the performance through tableau or gestures this was brought about by Brecht. The National Theatre provides an example of this in their production of The Causaion Chalk Circle, adapted by Frank McGuinness. The scene entails the governor's wife, Nutella smoking over the baby’s pram. This scene shows the complete disregard and neglectful attitude towards her own child. This sustains the separation between audience and stage. The audience is able to see the distinction between actor and character, as the actor demonstrates their own opinion, contradicting their character by not personalising it with the gestures they are using.

Brecht allowed his spectators to smoke and chat leisurely in the theatre, he wanted them to feel comfortable and enjoy themselves, not wanting to be in an environment where they wish to leave. Spass, the german word for fun, was a fundamental part of brecht's plays. He believed it made the delivery of a political and social message to the working class more effective while ensuring he plays are fun and playful. Brecht’s believed that “a theatre that cannot be laughed in, is a theatre to be laughed at.” Through this belief Bertolt Brecht encouraged his audience to think critically, doing this through the use of spass to inspire them. The arts such as silent films and cabaret inspired Bertolt Brecht in how they used spass.

Bertolt Brecht used comedy as a political device within most, if not all of his plays. His specific theatre uses comedy that is time appropriate to when the plays were constructed but has now become redundant as times have changed. Most of Brecht's comedy was dark and ironic providing light in the dark, finding comedy in society rather than in an individual. Many people believe that because of the time appropriate comedy, especially using it as a political device, the comedy aspect has gotten lost. It does not have the same effect on audiences today as purposed when it was written. As times have changed since the creation of Brecht's plays, characters which were designed to deride society and opress capitalist have since become redundant and appear to be stereotypical to a modern audience.

Brecht was smart about how he incorporated comedy, not forcing it at or onto the audience but instead using two contrasting acting styles together, or using over exaggeration, and irony. Brecht may place a level headed, ‘normal’ character alongside an over exaggerated character. Both characters make political statements expressing their side while one shows the other up. An example of this can be found in The Caucasian Chalk Circle where, Natella and Azdak seem to mock the upper classes within society while the peasant maid, Grusha remains sophisticated within the scene of The Chalk Circle. In this scene although Natella is affluent, Grusha demonstrates she is a better mother, with is mattering more than what is on the inside the the wealth or appearance on the outside. This leaves the audience to decide over who would be the better mother.

As stated before spass and comedy can be seen in most if not all of Brecht’s plays. In Mother Courage and Her Children there are several scenes in particular which use comedy to delivered Brecht's political viewpoints to the audience. In the first scene where her sons are conscripted Brecht uses comedy through several lines such as. “If you're pissing your pants I’ll make do with your brother”, or, “the sensible thing is to stay with your mother, never mind if they poke fun at you and call you chicken,” as well as Mother Courage being very over the top throughout the conscription process. Brecht uses these to poke fun at the conscription process demonstrating his political opinion of it. Another example of this is when Mother Courage’s daughter, Kattrin, sacrifices herself to warn the village people of the impending attack. Mother Courage sings to Kattrin as she ‘falls asleep’, or dies. There are several lines in the song such as “neighbours’ kids go hungry and you shall eat cake or, neighbours’ kids grizzle but my kids are gay”, indicating this song is for that of a wealthy family. This is ironic as Mother Courage and her children have always been poor. This irony demonstrates Brecht's advocacy for communism, everyone being equal in stature and wealth.

Through the use of comedy, or ‘spass’, political and social messages were able to be highlighted and delivered, from stage to audience in a light hearted but also convincing manner. Brecht was able to successfully accomplish his purpose of enabling the audience to analyse what they were seeing on stage and taking that into consideration. Thus, the audience was more likely to take away from the performance the desire to make changes to the capitalist society that they were living in. However, productions of a Brechtian play made within modern cultural and society will probably be unsuccessful in achieving Brecht’s original and true intentions due to the change in society and societal values.

Overall Brecht did use comedy as a political device and this can be seen in most if not all of his plays. Bertolt Brecht’s main intention for his plays was to present his political and social views, with the analysis from the audience persuading them. He did not force these ideas upon the audience however he did create several techniques in order to help the working class make up their minds. The biggest technique he used was verfremdungseffekt, in which the audience was distanced from what was occurring on stage. This was done through several ways, such as lighting, acting or use of placards. He also used comedy to subtly get his viewpoints across and present them to the audience. Comedy was used in this way' to lighten the attitude of the audience and make them more open to analysis and to take on what was being said. If the audience were enjoying themselves, they would want to stay and engage with the plays rather than wish they were somewhere else.