Bertolt Brecht response

Human trafficking is the displacement of people by force, fraud, or deception, with the aim of exploiting them. It is mostly known as a form of “modern slavery”, where people, especially women and children, are placed in wealthy countries in Western Europe, North America or Middle East. Victims are usually innocent people who were looking for jobs to support their families and were lured by adverts in their home countries who convinced that the work will be well-paid and the condition will be safe. The fate of the victims is unclear; they could be exchanged to other group of frauds as business, sent home after they fall ill, or become pregnant with an unwanted child.

This social issue is well appropriate to promote Bertolt Brecht theory of Epic theatre, because it touches several issues that are filled with controversies that the spectators are ought to think about. However, it would be extremely arduous to design this performance in a way that would discourage the audience to suppress their emotional attachment to the characters on stage, because the narrative would most likely evoke the spectator’s sentiments more than their critical thoughts on the concern. It is Brecht’s intention to eliminate the dramatical illusion, but to stimulate the performance to be more of a debate hall than a place of entertainment (Bertolt Brecht: Centenary Essays). While still providing entertainment, it should be strongly didactic and capable of provoking social change. Brecht wanted the spectators to identify the issue that is presented on stage with the characters on stage and become emotionally involved with them rather than being stirred to think about his own life.

The tool that Brecht used to encourage the audience to adopt a more critical attitude was a technique called the Verfremdungs-effekt ("alienation effect"), where it is used to remind the spectators that they are in a theatre watching a piece of reality (brandeis.edu). The alienation effect is preceded on stage with characters continuously explaining the situation, rather than letting the audience to see the emotion and the thoughts of the characters. It is the actors’ role to interrupt the spectator’s emotion to be aroused as they begin to attach their feelings with the character’s feeling, and awake them to stop and think critically.

The stage design of this performance should almost be empty, because any set changes can affect the view of the audience. Props are only used when they are necessary for telling the story, and if they are used, then the props themselves should be symbolic rather than real. There shouldn’t be a wall between the audience and the actors; therefore it should be considered opened to allow the audience to see the “piece of reality” in front of them. Lighting should be used in a way where it ensures the actors to be seen as if they are living in the same world as the audience. It should indicate the passage of time or change of scenes rather than create a mood or an atmosphere. So, the lighting director should abandon the idea of hiding the source of light to achieve a mysterious effect to draw attention and should inundate the state with ‘harsh white light’ to focus the full view of the audience reminding them that they are watching a play. The script should be written scenes that carry their own message and tell their own story. Dramatic irony should be well used with other well known stories like myths and legends to provoke the audience to enjoy hearing the stories they already know and teach the message at the same time (bbc.co.uk). It should be structured episodically with clear message plugged in, to emphasize the intention of the performance. The blockings should also be well considered where it shouldn’t be dome to amaze the views; it should be blocked to clarify the structure of the human relationship in the play and use everything on stage to make the audience to develop a more critical perspective on the issues that are presented (delamare-arts.com). The issue of human trafficking is perfect to exhibit Brecht’s theory, at the same time to spread awareness using his methods.
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