Abstract
Epic theater, which is formed by Bertolt Brecht in the early 20 th century and peaks in the following decades, challenges the persistent drama convention initiated first by Aristotle. Bertolt Brecht, who is propelled by Marxist convictions and dialectical conception of history while shaping his epic theatre, aims to expose social degradation, economic exploitation and political manipulation by means of epic plays. Brecht, who tries to thwart the illusion of the fourth wall through epic theatre, encourages his audience into critical and interventionist thinking so that he can warn them who have been deceived for ages under the excuse of inevitability of human fate. Acting on Brecht’s innovative art and legacy, socialist feminist Caryl Churchill deals with such themes as fixed gender roles, patriarchy and power relations and she employs Brechtian epic devices in her works to deconstruct colonialist discourse and patriarchal authority after having demonstrated their connections with sexist discriminations and oppression. The objective of this study is to introduce the main features of Brechtian epic theatre and demonstrate how Caryl Churchill deploys these epic elements in Cloud Nine to disclose power relations and instigate tolerance and social change.
Highlights
According to Bertolt Brecht, art, which is a means of superstructure, has been manipulated to disguise the evils taking place in a society
The objective of this study is to introduce the main features of Brechtian epic theatre and demonstrate how Caryl Churchill deploys these epic elements in Cloud Nine to disclose power relations and instigate tolerance and social change
Cloud Nine, which was written by Caryl Churchill in the second half of the 20th century, unsettles the expectations of the readers/audience as the play follows Brechtian techniques of a performance on stage
Summary
According to Bertolt Brecht, art, which is a means of superstructure, has been manipulated to disguise the evils taking place in a society. What Brecht has commenced and succeeded in Germany becomes influential in different parts of the World and Britain is one of them whose social, political and economic conditions are available to welcome Brecht’s epic theatre. By alienating the socio-political, cultural and economic variables through songs, role and gender reversals, which she depicts in Cloud Nine, Churchill prompts readers and audience’s critical thinking and force them to think if whatever happens under the disguise of convention is inevitable or not. By employing the elements of Brechtian epic theatre in Cloud Nine, Caryl Churchill tries to derail the rigid hierarchical power relations and get rid of (post)colonial and sexual oppression
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