The theater of Antonin Artaud and Bertolt Brecht is radically different with respect to the purpose and goals of the respective playwrights with respect to the impact of their works on audiences and society. If ArtaudÆs theater of cruelty and BrechtÆs epic theater are distinct, then so are their goals for audience impact. Artaud hoped by showing images of manÆs cruelty to man, audience members would experience a form of ôdeliriumö whereby they would ôexperience trances and inspirationö leading to personal change, (Fowlie, p. 203). If ArtaudÆs surreal works of theater were meant to inspire transformation and change on the micro- or individual level, then BrechtÆs epic theater was designed to bring about change on the macro- or social level. Brecht attempted social change with his ôepic theater,ö plays that engaged viewers by presenting objects, issues, and characters to alienate, (Bertolt, p. 1). Brecht maintained the point of production was to ôtake the subject matter and the incidents shown and put them through a process of alienation: the alienation that is necessary to all understanding,ö (Bertolt, p. 1). This analysis will explore the ideas and philosophies of theater exhibited in the writings and works of these two playwrights. A conclusion will address their impact on the works of other playwrights, like
In describing the goal of his epic theater, Bertolt Brecht (p. 1) wrote that ôWhen something seems the most obvious thing in the world, it means that any attempt to understand the world has been given up. What is natural must have the force of what is startling.ö In other words, BrechtÆs plays and his brand of theater known as ôepic theaterö are designed to startle individuals through a process of alienation that will motivate them to become activists for social change that provides liberation and equality. In BrechtÆs epic theater, we are often confronted with characters who become so alienated f...