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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Brecht call the new style of acting that happened as a result of the Threepenny Opera?

2. Who was the best-known composer that Brecht worked with?

3. Like Tolstoy and Strindberg, Brecht says that Wedekind was one of the greatest _____ of modern Europe.

4. What is the main task of epic theatre?

5. Which aspect of epic theatre enlightened the spectator about facts unknown to him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Germany's role in the development of theatre in 1929?

2. How was Piscator's influence obvious to Brecht in theatre in 1929?

3. What did Brecht see as the role of Fate in film?

4. What does Brecht tell Mr. X about the eternal urge to see of a play?

5. Why does Brecht use the example of 'leave-taking' in "A Dialogue about Acting" and what does he mean by it?

6. What was the function of the big canvas at the back of the stage in the production of Die Mutter?

7. Why was the editor not allowed to reproduce all of Brecht's essays?

8. Why did the editor thank the people he did?

9. In the editor's opinion, in what way did Brecht's ideas on theatre evolve?

10. What is the relationship between a theatre and a play?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain Brecht's thoughts on amateur/non-professional acting. When does this sort of acting have merit and why?

Essay Topic 2

Describe how Charles Laughton employed gest and the alienation effect in his production of "Galileo". What was the goal of this production?

Essay Topic 3

Explain Brecht's criteria for the subject matter of theatrical works. What is the ideal subject matter of epic theatre? What is its function?

(see the answer keys)

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