'Mother Courage' and 'Summer of the Aliens'
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 scene and
In both scenes historical accuracy and tragi-comic tone is evident. In 'Summer of the Aliens' act one scene four exists as a part of the whole play. The purpose of performance is to teach or instruct the audience about the issue in the scene. 'Summer of the Aliens' has points of view located with the use of narrator figure. As well as in the performance of 'Summer of the Aliens', there can be moments of comedy and tragedy, but the factual background must be accurate. 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. They are didactic in nature with audience alienating purposes. 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. 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. 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. With the very opposite theatrical styles, the two scenes are performed using conventions appropriate for the aim of their style. The context in each scene diverses too, however there are similarities in it. In some sense, each scene exists for itself. These theatrical conventions, according to Brecht, can portray social truths in a way audiences could not ignore. In both scenes young women are fighting for something.
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 diverses similarities,
play 'mother courage,
theatrical styles,
context scene,
using conventions,
theatrical conventions,
scene diverses,
scene exists,
scene 'summer aliens',
'mother courage children',
epic theatre,
realistic theatre,
context scene diverses,
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Acceptance Essays
