Brecht Workshop 4: Verfrumdungseffekt

There are two activities in this workshop. The first one was where a person was describing an object that the others cannot see as if it was foreign. This was a representation of Brecht's concept: Verfremdungseffekt, which was also named the alienation effect. This allowed the audience to recognise the reality but also see things from a different point of view. This activity helped us understand how the effect took place.

The second activity was where a "alien documentary" of human life was made about something ordinary. We made a documentary about school, where there was the existence of school bells, teachers, and books. We played with describing the normal objects as foreign things. Also, we played with making the performance really looking like a documentary where it could be rewinded and paused. The reporter in the act was to be the person that speaks to the audience about the act and distances the audience away from the actors. This was how Brecht used this effect in his work. Therefore, through these workshops we had learned and experienced how to use Brecht's concepts in theatre work.