Blog
Brecht and Casting: A Reflection on The Personal History of David Copperfield
Posted: February 5, 2020
Armando Ianucci’s film The Personal History of David Copperfield is a retelling of Dickens’s novel. What is quite remarkable is the colourblind casting that pervades the film.
Brechtian Clichés #4: The Function of Brecht’s ‘Spoilers’
Posted: July 2, 2019
Martin Swales makes a point about Brecht’s provision of ‘spoilers’ in his plays, in an essay in the 2008 collection ‘Verwisch die Spuren!’: Bertolt Brecht’s Work and Legacy : A Reassessment.
The Recent Explosion of Brecht Publications in English
Posted: April 28, 2019
The AHRC-funded Writing Brecht project, of which I was a team member, is winding down after several years’ service. Now seems like a good time to celebrate its achievements by picking out four of the highlights that emerged over the years.
Brechtian Clichés #3: Breaking the Fourth Wall
Posted: April 20, 2019
It’s time to address another cliché relating to Brechtian practice.
People often associate breaking the fourth wall (more on this below) with Brecht’s theatre, puncturing the fictional world by acknowledging the real world of the audience who are watching the theatrical production.
New Section on the Site: Full Documentation of The Crucible
Posted: October 8, 2018
Just a quick one to say that I have expanded the brechtinpractice site with a full documentation of our production of The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
Brechtian Clichés #2: An Obsession with Placards
Posted: May 5, 2018
There is a photograph, published in all editions of Brecht on Theatre and viewable on this website, in which a man is listening to the radio.
New Document in Downloads
Posted: March 15, 2018
I have added a new document to the Download Zone: it’s a schedule for how you might approach rehearsing a full-length play using a Brechtian approach.
Brechtian Clichés #1: ‘He wants you to know you’re in a theatre’
Posted: December 27, 2017
In an essay of 2009, Dan Rebellato notes ‘representational theatre is not illusionistic. In illusions we have mistaken beliefs about what we are seeing.
More Thoughts on Gestus
Posted: November 16, 2017
Just a quick post to note that I’ve added a paragraph to the Gestus page. This, in part, is an addition made after reading a draft of David Zoob’s insightful and eye-opening book, Brecht: A Practical Handbook.
Time to Say Goodbye to ‘Epic Theatre’
Posted: November 13, 2017
Epic Theatre is a term synonymous with Brecht’s theatre. Yet its meaning has often been misunderstood, and so it’s perhaps worth setting out its terms clearly first.