Bertolt Brecht

Born - 10th February 1898. Augsburg, Bavaria, German Empire. Died - 14th August 1956 (aged 58) East Berlin, East Germany. When Bertolt was 16, the first world war broke out. He registered for an additional medical course at Munich University, where he enrolled in 1917, there he studied drama. From July 1916, Brecht's newspaper article began appearing under the new name "Bert Albrecht". Albrecht was drafted into military service in Autumn of 1918. Only to be posted back to Augsburg as a medical orderly in military VD clinic; the war ended a month later. From his late twenties Brecht devoted his life into developing the combined theory and practice of his "epic theatre". "Epic theatre" proposed that a play should not cause the spectator to identify emotionally with the characters or action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and critical view of the action on the stage. He wanted his audiences to recognise social injustice and exploitation in his theatre, so they can effectively change the world outside the theatre. His plays were a representation of reality not reality itself. By highlighting the constructed nature of the theatrical event, Brecht hoped to communicate that the audiences reality was equally constructed, and, as such, was changeable.