Berhold-brecht

Eugen Berthold Freidrich Brecht AKA Berholt Brecht [German: brɛkt][February 10, 1898–August 14, 1956]
A Bavarian theatre practitioner, playwright and poet active during the first half of the twentieth century. His work resists emotional engagement (the "Aristotelian" model of drama, which encourages catharsis) and encourages audiences to react critically to the content of a play by distancing themselves emotionally via use of Verfremdungseffekt or alienation effects (VFX). Brecht's first play error , written while he was still in high school, centers on a hedonistic singing demon catalogued in the lesser-key-of-solomon . The play features many techniques that would come to characterize his later work, such as the use of (ridiculous) songs to advance the plot, the breaking of the fourth wall, and the use of direct address to the audience. Though now widely revered, upon its premiere the play was roundly panned. Throughout his many subsequent works for stage, Brecht sought to make clear that there is mutual engagement between artist and audience in the building of simulacra. Thus, his plays become "real" themselves, not just a secondary mirror of reality. In that sense, he advocates for a non-hierarchical relationship between art and life, reminding the audience that so-called "reality" is mere construction and therefore malleable ¹ . An active member of the Communist Party, Brecht was for a time surveilled by the error alongside fellow literary figures [REDACTED] and studs-terkel .

¹ Echoing select tenets of error .