Something Different

When critics describe a play as realistic and lifelike, playwright, director, and cast usually smile at their success. They have created the illusion of reality, of life, on the stage and thus have reached theatre's traditional goal. Yet, in 1920 there began a German theatrical group which longed to hear that they had killed the realism, chattered the illusion, and had created false if not impossible situations. These were the impressionists of the Epic Staging School, led by director Erwin Piscator and writer Bert Brecht.

Their radical attempts in Germany to give the audience a greater understanding, a fuller appreciation, and something to think about ended with the rise of Hitler and his censors. The movement continued in this country at the Federal Theater. In 1936, the Living Newspaper Society, founded by Elmer Rice, performed "Triple-A Cloud Under," a dramatization of the Agricultural Adjustment Act's history. The new technique disturbed the actors, who threatened to quit, and the public, which disliked the show's left wing sentiments. One patriotic gentleman rose from his seat when he heard part of an Earl Browder speech. He muttered a bit about the Reds and started singing The Star Spangled Banner.

Many such productions, like "Saint Joan of the Stock Yards," and "The Rise of the City of Mahogany," were sharply cynical social criticisms. Mare Blitzstein translated one of these, "The Threepenny Opera," whose original script was by Brecht with score by Kurt Weill. This take-off on "The Beggar's Opera" employs such epic techniques as a blackout before songs, then a spot-light on one character who sings about the action and its implications. If the actor doesn't clarify the situation, there are placards on stage explaining what is being sung and why.

The show broke records last year at the off-Broadway Theater de Lys. Thursday night the Lowell House Music Society will attempt what the Theatre de Lys did not--to isolate the songs from the action with the blackout and other epic staging methods. But lighting and staging are not the only difficulties of the technique. Continuity and dramatic effect are obstacles, for it is quite possible that deliberate breaks for the sake of understanding will also break the interest and concentration evoked by sustained tension. It is also possible that the rapid pace, the harsh atonal music, and the intimacy of actors and audience will become disconcerting rather than spellbinding. The Lowell House Music Society must realize that an epic production requires heroic actors.