The Complete Brecht Toolkit - Softcover

Stephen Unwin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1854595504 ISBN 13: 9781854595508

Publisher: Nick Hern Books, 2014

Synopsis

A companion piece to NHB's best-selling The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit.

A practical, hands-on guide - for actors, directors, teachers and students - to Brecht's history and practice of theatre.

The Complete Brecht Toolkit examines, one by one, Brecht's many, sometimes contradictory ideas about theatre - and how he put them into practice. Here are explanations of all the famous key terms, such as Alienation Effect, Epic Theatre and Gestus, as well as many others which go to make up what we think of as 'Brechtian theatre'.
There follows a section which looks at the practical application of these theories in Acting, Language, Music, Design and Direction. And finally, the book offers fifty exercises for student actors to investigate Brecht's ideas for themselves, becoming thoroughly familiar with the tools in the Brecht toolkit.

Even in his lifetime, Brecht was widely misunderstood. The Complete Brecht Toolkit is a vital masterclass that seeks to clear away some of the mystery that surrounds Brecht's theatre, and explains what he was trying to do. Stephen Unwin's book is a practical, hands-on guide to Brecht for actors, directors, teachers and students.

About this title

Product Description:

A practical, hands-on guide - for actors, directors, teachers and students - to Brecht's history and practice of theatre. The Complete Brecht Toolkit examines, one by one, Brecht's many, sometimes contradictory ideas about theatre - and how he put them into practice. Here are explanations of all the famous key terms, such as Alienation Effect, Epic Theatre and Gestus, as well as many others which go to make up what we think of as 'Brechtian theatre'., There follows a section which looks at the practical application of these theories in Acting, Language, Music, Design and Direction. And finally, the book offers fifty exercises for student actors to investigate Brecht's ideas for themselves, becoming thoroughly familiar with the tools in the Brecht toolkit.

Review:

One of the best introductory books on Brecht currently in circulation... Readable and useful... Unwin [presents] the theoretical and practical ideas of Bertolt Brecht in a clear, concise and connected way so that students and practitioners may consider the importance of his work in the twenty-first century. --ayoungertheatre.com

A major and brilliant achievement... exemplary clarity and concision... honours the complexity of Brecht while providing a valuable addition to the literature aimed at exploring and explaining this key figure. Highly recommended. --Drama Magazine

About this edition

• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1854595504
• ISBN 13: 9781854595508
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224