The term "
epic theatre" comes from
Erwin Piscator who coined it during his first year as director of Berlin's
Volksbühne (1924–27). Piscator aimed to encourage playwrights to address issues related to "contemporary existence." This new subject matter would then be staged by means of documentary effects, audience interaction, and strategies to cultivate an objective response. Epic theatre incorporates a mode of acting that utilises what Brecht calls
gestus. One of Brecht's most-important
aesthetic innovations prioritised
function over the sterile
dichotomous opposition between
form and
content. Epic theatre and its many forms is a response to
Richard Wagner's idea of "
Gesamtkunstwerk", or "total artwork", which intends each piece of art to be composed of other art forms. Since epic theatre is so focused on the specific relationship between form and content, these two ideas contradict each other, despite the fact that Brecht was heavily influenced by Wagner. Brecht discussed the priorities and approach of epic theatre in his work "
A Short Organum for the Theatre". Although many of the concepts and practices involved in Brechtian epic theatre had been around for years, even centuries, Brecht unified them, developed the approach, and popularised it. Near the end of his career, Brecht preferred the term "dialectical theatre" to describe the kind of theatre he pioneered. From his later perspective, the term "epic theatre" had become too formal a concept to be of use anymore. According to
Manfred Wekwerth, one of Brecht's directors at the
Berliner Ensemble at the time, the term refers to the "'
dialecticising' of events" that this approach to theatre-making produces. Epic theatre is distinct from other forms of theatre, particularly the early
naturalistic approach and later "
psychological realism" developed by
Konstantin Stanislavski. Like Stanislavski, Brecht disliked the shallow spectacle, manipulative plots, and heightened emotion of
melodrama; but where Stanislavski attempted to engender real human behaviour in acting through the techniques of
Stanislavski's system and to absorb the audience completely in the fictional world of the play, Brecht saw this type of theatre as escapist. Brecht's own social and political focus was distinct, too, from
surrealism and the
Theatre of Cruelty, as developed in the writings and dramaturgy of
Antonin Artaud, who sought to affect audiences viscerally, psychologically, physically, and irrationally. While both produced 'shock' in the audience, epic theatre practices would also include a subsequent moment of understanding and comprehension. ==Techniques==