Session 3

Fixing the ‘Not…But’ (Exposing the contradictions)

Staging a Brechtian Scene

The ‘Not…But’ technique furthers Brecht’s notion of Gestus in highlighting the essential contradiction within his characters that is ultimately making a greater comment upon the contradictions and injustices within society.

I’m NOT going to do this… BUT I am going to do this…

Exercise 1 - exploring a 'not... but' moment from The Caucasion Chalk Circle

A scene from the play is improvised - the Governors wife receives a message that the palace has been overthrown and revolutionaries are on their way. 

In the play her action is to flee, leaving her son 'Michael'.

What are the other choices she COULD make?

Suggestions included: Stay and fight, take Michael, accept her fate, kill herself, negotiate - there are a number of possibilities and the 'not... but' moment allows us to communicate the choices to an audience.


The actors run the scene again exactly as before but this time including a 'not... but' moment.

The moment might be; a direct address to the audience like an 'aside' to break the 4th wall and describe what they are thinking, it could be a series of gestures acting out the choice. It shows to the audience what the character is NOT going to do, the play tells us BUT I am going to do this. 


It's a technique that exposing contradictions and shows characters are multi-sided not to be taken for granted and demands the audience to look critically at characters and their choices, not to take them got granted.

STAGE A SCENE FROM MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN

Scene 12

Working in groups of 4 or 5.

This is the final scene of the play.  Mother Courage has returned from making her final deal from her war-profiteering, to find that Katrin, whom she has left alone for the first time, is dead.  Katrin was warning the village that the soldiers were coming and so she was killed. 

1)  What attitudes do Mother Courage and the Peasants display? Look for the contradictions of attitude within the scene how can you communicate this?

2)  Create a ‘not…but’ moment where an alternative choice is being considered by the characters – what are the attitudes of all the characters within this moment.

3)  Find the gestic moment within the scene – it should be the moment where attitudes are clearly on display. The moment of gestus will reveal your interpretation of their attitude even though there may be more than one demonstrated. 

4)  How are you going to deliver the title?

Evaluate how successfully you stage the scene - the challenges, what worked, what didn't.

Evaluate any of the scenes the group watched and the way they used Brecht's ideas.