Epic Theater - Aristotle Was one of the Most Brilliant Playwrights

Epic Theater

Aristotle was one of the most brilliant playwrights

in the history of the world. He believed the theatergoer would identify with the main character and undergo a catharsis while watching the play. Bertolt Brecht believed in a much different way to write a play, known as Epic Theater. Epic Theater highlights the problems of society while surrounding the theatergoers with an unrealistic plot. Dr. Strange Love directed by Stanley Kubrick, is a perfect example of epic theater the way Bertolt wanted it.

In the movie Dr. Strange Love the names of the characters were supposed to be spoof and let the theatergoers know that they are in a theater and this isn't real life. Some of the names are Col. Bat Guano, stands for bat shit, Brig Gen. Jack Ripper, which is a spin off the murder Jack the Ripper, and Major Kong which is for the gorilla King Kong. The character's names are there to help the person realize that although the message in the play is real, the character is not.

Another way the movie depicts epic theater is that Stanley Kubrick purposely made the special effects in the movie horrible. It was past the time of color tv but instead of putting the movie in color he decided to film it in black and white to make it look old. Also, when the movie shows you the plane flying, it is blantenly obvious that the plane they show is plastic edited into a video. Kubrick does this to keep the people watching the play from getting succumbed by the special features and not get the message the play is trying to get across. By making the special effects way below par it makes the people watching focus on what really matters in epic theater, the message the play is trying to get across.

The ending of the movie Dr. Strange Love depicts exactly what Bertolt wanted his plays to, it gets the message across but in a funny way. The whole movie is about communists speaking out in the US and getting persecuted for using their rights. In the end Russia ends up destroying the world by using the Doomsday machine, a powerful device that can destroy the world by detonating nukes. When the machine goes off it shows devastating nuclear explosions while playing very cheerful music. The ending makes for a very enjoyable play and gives the theatergoer a few laughs.

The movie Dr. Strange Love is the perfect example of Bertolt Brecht's version of