Epic theatre presents a form of political drama intended to appeal to reason rather than

the emotions. Epic Theatre replaced the unities within episodic structure; an important feature

was the alienation effect, in which actors and audiences were discouraged from identifying with

the characters or scenes depicted. The name and theory were derived from Aristotle and

pioneered in Germany in the late 1920s by Bertolt Brecht and his associate Erwin Piscator (1893

- 1966).Both were avowed communists who sought an ideal theater with social and political

relevance that would stimulate playgoers into both thought and action; Theatre of

Commitment, Theatre of Social Action, and Theatre of Social Conviction were alternative names

for the genre. Brecht's Man is Man (1926) is usually considered the first Epic Theatre play;

Piscator's offerings included a dramatization of Tolstoy's War and Peace. The tradition was

continued by many of the left-wing playwrights of the 1960s and 1970s.

In classical theatre, there are two types of drama:

Comedy: where the main characters usually “get action”

Tragedy: where violent action leads to misfortune for the main characters

Aristotle has defined Tragedy as:

“Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude: in

a language embellished with each kind of artistic ornaments, the several kinds of being found in

separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and

fear, wherewith to accomplish catharsis of emotions…”

Brecht also defines the contrast between the traditional, Aristotelian 'dramatic' and his own

'epic' as corresponding to idealist and materialist philosophical positions:

“The epic drama, with its materialistic standpoint and its lack of interest in any investment

of its spectators' emotions, knows no objective but only a finishing point, and is familiar

with a different kind of chain, whose course need not be a straight one but may quite well

be in curves or even in leaps. [...] Whenever one comes across materialism epic forms arise

in the drama, and most markedly and frequently in comedy, whose 'tone' is always 'lower'

and more materialistic”.

It is this materialist perspective on the world, and specifically on the human being, that

renders the epic form particularly appropriate and useful to the dramatist, Brecht argues.

Contemporary science (the term includes what English calls 'human sciences'; especially,

for Brecht, historical materialism) reveals that the human being is determined by and

determining of its circumstances ('social' and 'physical'). The epic form enables the drama

to stage humanity in a way that incorporates this scientific understanding; the dramatist

becomes able to show the human (the level of interpersonal relationships) in interaction

with the larger forces and dynamics at work in society (the supra-personal, historical scale):

“Today, when the human being has come to be seen as 'the sum of all social

circumstances' the epic form is the only one that can embrace those processes which

serve the drama as matter for a comprehensive picture of the world. Similarly man,

flesh and blood man, can only be embraced through those processes by which and in

the course of which he exists”.

The Bacchae is a classical tragedy. It is based on the mythological story of King Pentheus

of Thebes and his mother Agauë, and their punishment by the god Dionysus (who is Pentheus'

cousin) for refusing to worship him. In a play that follows a climatic plot construction, Dionysus

the Protagonist, instigates the unfolding action by simultaneously emulating the play's author,

costume designer, choreographer and artistic director. Helen P. Foley wrote of the links between

the importance of Dionysus as the central character and his effect on the play's structure, she

writes: "the poet uses the ritual crisis to explore simultaneously god, man, society, and his

own tragic art. In this proto drama Dionysus, the god of the theatre, stage-directs the play."

At the start of the play, Dionysus disguises himself as a Lydian bacchant, the Stranger, and

along with his group of maenads, enters Thebes. Pentheus orders soldiers to arrest him, Dionysus

only too willingly allows himself to be taken. In three encounters Dionysus talks, tricks, and

converts Pentheus into becoming a voyeuristic transvestite who goes to watch the Bacchae rites.

A frenzied Agauë dismembers her own son Pentheus which gave rise to climax and arouse

crisis of feeling in audience. Catharsis/purgation arises at major conflict, when Dionysus the

protagonist arrives in Thebes to demonstrate his divinity and punish the family of Cadmus. The

King of Thebes, Pentheus, is a violent opponent of Dionysian worship and rite. Action falls on the

end as Agauë takes her son's head back to Thebes still under the delusion that it is a lion's head.

Cadmus finally makes her see the truth which highlights the feature of reversal/peripeteia of

classical drama.It follows the unity of time, place and action. The place of action is Thebes; since

its action takes place properly according to plot, it has proper beginning, middle and end in a

certain time.

Characters are the most important assets of Classical theatre as they preach the ethics to

audience. Limited number of characters in the drama conveys the message. They make the

audience to identify themselves and rise pity, fear and catharsis of feelings. Characters in The

Bacchae are:

Dionysus, protagonist and central axis of The Bacchae, this god of wine, theater and group

ecstasy appears mostly in disguise as a beautiful, longhaired, wine-flushed Lydian, the Stranger.

His non-human forms and powers are also felt acutely throughout the play and Dionysus the god

is clearly different from Dionysus in disguise, as the Stranger, and yet they are the same. Still,

they exist in their different forms simultaneously, so while the audience and the chorus hear the

divine god give the command for the earthquake, the Stranger is inside the palace torturing

Pentheus. Dionysus is the son of Zeus and the mortal Semele, daughter of Cadmus.

  Pentheus is the king of Thebes, son of Agaue, grandson of Cadmus and the first cousin of

Dionysus. Structurally Pentheus is Dionysus's foil, thus he is a preserver of law and order, a

military man, a stern patriarch, and ultimately a doomed mortal. Pentheus is not merely a mirror

or inverted double of Dionysus; he is puritanical and obstinate, but also curious and voyeuristic.

Agaue is mother of Pentheus and daughter of Cadmus. Agaue is already one of the maenads (a

worshipper of Dionysus participating in orgiastic rites, from the Greek mainad to be mad) at the

start of the play. Even though she only enters the play at the very end, her scene is the most

powerful and tragic in the play.

Cadmus, former king of Thebes, father of Agaue and Semele, grandfather of Pentheus and

Dionysus is the only one in his family to declare allegiance to Dionysus.

Servant - He captures the Stranger and brings him to Pentheus in Scene II.

First Messenger - One of three anonymous witnesses in the play. The first messenger is a cowherd

who spies on the maenads and comes back to relate the incident to Pentheus.

Second Messenger - The second messenger accompanied Pentheus and Dionysus up the mountain

and witnessed the death of his king. He returns to the palace to relate the event to the chorus.

Chorus - Female bacchants from Lydia, led by Dionysus in his human form as the Stranger.

Tiresias - A famous Theban seer and friend of Cadmus. Tiresias persuades Cadmus to worship

Dionysus.

The characters of this classical drama contains physical or superficial (external) or

psychological and spiritual (internal) qualities. They hold the physical attributes of names,

physical appearance, physical nature, manner of speech and accent, manner of dress, social status,

class, community interests and Internal characteristics like thoughts, feelings and emotions.

The structure of Greek tragedy is characterized by a set of conventions. The tragedy usually

begins with a prologue, in which one or more characters introduce the drama and explain the

background of the ensuing story. The prologue is followed by the parodos (after which the story

unfolds through three or more episodes. The episodes are interspersed by stasima choral interludes

explaining or commenting on the situation developing in the play. The tragedy ends with the

exodus concluding the story. It should be noted however that some plays do not adhere to this

conventional structure.

In the prologue, Dionysus, son of Zeus, addresses the audience, describing to us how

Thebes is his birthplace and is also the ancestral home of his mortal mother, Semele. Parodos or

Ode of Entry is the performance and dancing area for actors and chorus, which was utilized by

Greek theater to inform audiences of what happens "off stage". In The Bacchae, The chorus enters

from both sides of the stage, exalting Dionysus. The ode they chant consists of three segments: a)

(Prelude): a call for holy silence b)(Hymn in four parts): a declaration of the blessed state of a

maenad, a summary of Dionysus's birth, a call to Thebes to worship the Bacchae and a history of

the place of the drum in their cult. c)(Epode or refrain): further description of the ecstasy of the

bacchants.

Non- Aristotelian derma, or the ‘epic form’ of the drama, is a kind of play whose

dramaturgical structure departs from the features of classical tragedy in favor of the features of

the epic, , as defined in each case by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle in his Poetics(c.335

BCE).

The German modernist theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht coined the term 'non-

Aristotelian drama' to describe the dramaturgical dimensions of his own work, beginning in 1930

with a series of notes and essays entitled "On a Non-Aristotelian drama." Brecht writes, "the

difference between the dramatic and epic forms was attributed to their different methods of

construction." Method of construction here refers to the relation the play establishes between its

parts and its whole:

“The epic writer Döblin provided an excellent criterion when he said that with an epic

work, as opposed to a dramatic, one can as it were take a pair of scissors and cut it into

individual pieces, which remain fully capable of life.”

Brecht thought the "old" forms of European theatre based on Aristotle, which, in the face

of changing contemporary circumstances was inadequate to represent social reality. Therefore he

came up with the concept of “epic theatre”. This direction of theatre was inspired by Brecht’s

Marxist political beliefs. It was somewhat of a political platform for his ideologies. Epic theatre is

the assimilation of education through entertainment and is the antithesis of Stanislavsky’s Realism

and also Expressionism. Brecht believed that, unlike epic theatre, Expressionism and Realism

were incapable of exposing human nature and so had no educational value. He conjectured that

his form of theatre was capable of provoking a change in society. Brecht’s intention was to

encourage the audience to ponder, with critical detachment, the moral dilemmas presented before

them.

The epic theatre of Brecht invites spectators to analyze dominant issues concerning

economic, social, and political matters, additionally guiding them to consider possible alterations.

In his plays, Brecht strives to prohibit the metamorphosis of spectators by creating a gap between

characters and spectators thereby encouraging them to develop critical ideas about society.

Readers therefore should avoid being subjective, and consequently be able to view contemporary

issues objectively and critically. In The Life of Galileo, Brecht avails himself historical resources

for resolving a significant modern issue, thereby transforming his play into a historical drama.

According to Brecht, science should reflect social responsibility in order to be in the

disposition of human aims. There are several schemes in The Life of Galileo. In the first scheme,

Brecht believes that any scientific evolution brings about general progress for people-an idea

derived from Galileo. In other schemes such as nuclear power and arms for the massacre of

humanity, Brecht has questioned scientific evolution. In epic theatre there is no proper coherence

in events and no unities.

Catharsis was not the aim of the epic theater and a thoughtful audience was a necessity. Rather

than play for emotional empathy, the epic theater calls the audience to “learned to be astonished at

the circumstances within which (the drama’s hero) has his being” (Benjamin, 18). According to

Walter Benjamin, the “relaxed interest” of the epic theater’s audience comes from the lack of

appeal made towards their empathy (Benjamin, 18).

In order to achieve such a dramatization which allowed the spectator to critically engage with the

performance, Brecht used what he referred to as the “alienation effect.” The ultimate goal of this

effect was to eliminate any and all sense of total immersion the traditional theater had previously

given. “The production (takes) the subject-matter and the incidents shown and (puts) them

through a process of alienation: the alienation that is necessary to all understanding. When

something seems ‘the most obvious thing in the world’ it means that any attempt to understand

the world has been given up” (Brecht, 71). Epic theater is not the illusion of reality but the re-

representation of events.  Probably the most vital aspect of the epic theater is the presence of what

Brecht refers to as the “alienation effect.”

In Brecht’s plays, the alienation effect was employed stylistically in a number of ways, broadly

through the use of various media which had traditionally lain outside of the realm of the theater.

As customary with many of his plays, each scene of Brecht’s “Life of Galileo” begins with stage

“inter-titles” (like those commonly used for dialogue in silent cinema). Projected upon a screen on

stage amidst the scenery and action is an explanation of the event(s) to be reenacted. This leads to

the audience’s immediate disillusionment of their expectation that the actions of the scene will

unfold. For Brecht, rather than detract from the story, the jarring and unfamiliar break in the

action on the stage, the incorporation of mechanical techniques in the stage play, allowed for an

incorporation of the narrative element.

Through the actor’s gesture as well as the character’s dialogue, a complete character was shown

on the stage who was self motivated while at the same time confined by his or her place in the

social construct of the portrayed society. It creates a multilevel representation of the on-stage

action and makes it accessible to the critical audience.

Brecht has also projected explanatory captions for the readers/audience to drive important

messages. Narrators are important as they fill in the missing action. Narration has been given

before starting any scene that is a major characteristic of an epic drama. In this play the author

relates an account in a way that invites the readers to consider the events involved and then to

make their own evaluation of them. Scene 3 begins with the caption “…Galileo Galilei abolishes

heaven” which instigates the reader to search for the truth. The caption of scene 4 describes the

clash between the ideologies of church and reason, empiricism and science with the significant

brevity. The old says: what I’ve always done I’ll always do. The new says: If you’re useless you

must go.

In order to accomplish this greater understanding, the epic theater employs the use of various

mediums. The audience becomes unfamiliar with the theater, and in turn the play at hand, when

outside media are used within it. This alienation of the theater production and demystification of

the audience enables the epic theater, for Brecht, revolutionize theater.