comparative report
Scene eleven from the play 'Mother Courage and her Children' and act one scene four from 'Summer of the Aliens' are scenes which are performed very differently, according to their theatrical styles and using conventions relating to those styles. The context in each scene diverses too, however there are some similarities. 'Mother Courage's' scene, written in 1940s by Bertolt Brecht, is a work of epic theatre, created by the writer. It is totally opposite to realistic theatre style of the scene from 'Summer of the Aliens' written by Louis Nowra in 1968. According to this realistic style, invented by Constantin Stanislavsky, the perforance of the scene has to be very real and believable. The actors have to re-enact the circumstances as realistically as possible through life like characters with the right use of voice and movements, realistic costumes, the overall stage resembling photographic detail of the period in the scen
In both scenes young women are fighting for something. Along with Stanislavsky, Bertolt Brecht's Epic Theatre is the very essence of non-realism with the main aim to avoid the typical theatrical conventions of realism. These theatrical conventions, according to Brecht, can portray social truths in a way audiences could not ignore. Through the processes of comparing and contrasting the two scenes, one from the play 'Mother Courage and her Children' and the other from 'Summer of the Aliens' it is clear how the performance of each scene differs. 'Summer of the Aliens' has points of view located with the use of narrator figure. In 'Summer of the Aliens' act one scene four exists as a part of the whole play. The context in each scene diverses too, however there are similarities in it. In some sense, each scene exists for itself. They are didactic in nature with audience alienating purposes. In 'Mother Courage' discrimination is evident through the way that the ensign is acting towards the soldiers and peasants and in 'Summer of the Aliens' it is clearly directed towards Beatrice. The important issue of discrimination is presented in both scenes. In both scenes historical accuracy and tragi-comic tone is evident. The purpose of performance is to teach or instruct the audience about the issue in the scene. In 'Mother Courage' Kattrin, against everyone, climbs up to the roof and beats the drum to wake up the town to allow them to defend themselves, and in 'Summer of the Aliens' Dulcie believes that the immigrants will soon take over everything, so she throws stone at Beatrice, the Dutch girl.
Common topics in this essay:
Epic Theatre,
Louise Nowra's,
Courage Children',
Constantin Stanislavsky,
Beatrice Dutch,
Bertolt Brecht,
Courage' Kattrin,
'summer aliens',
Aliens' Dulcie,
Louis Nowra,
Mother Courage',
'mother courage',
scene 'summer aliens',
scene diverses similarities,
theatrical conventions,
scenes performed,
theatrical styles,
using conventions,
diverses similarities,
scene exists,
context scene diverses,
'mother courage children',
epic theatre,
realistic theatre,
play 'mother courage,
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Acceptance Essays
