Gestus is socially encoded expression that is
consciously employed by an actor. It is inspired by Charlie Chaplin and his
ability to express social types through silent physical movement and mime.
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| Charlie Chaplin |
Brecht felt that traditional theatre focused too much
on facial expression and so gestures dried up. He wanted people to investigate
their body own body language as well as the body language of a social class,
their mannerisms and customs included. As Brecht was uninterested in
traditional, psychological drama that presents the mental attitudes and actors
of its protagonists as God-given or unknown forces, he wanted to display a
character’s actions as choices a person makes because of the social factors
affecting them. For example, a ‘peasant’ would lick their plate not because
they were a peasant but because that is how they had been brought up to behave
in a less wealthy climate.
An exercise for the practical development of understanding of gestus can be found at my other blog for exercises to support the study of political theatre.
This was helpful .Many thanks
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