Not/But

The Not/But is a Brechtian technique which involves the actor preceding each thought that is expressed by their character in words or an action rather than portraying a thought or action naturally the character arises from the given circumstances of the scene. The technique is a rehearsal exercise and its main function is to inscribe traces of the alternatives that were available to the character at each 'nodal point' in their journey.The effect gives the impression of a "sketching" in the actor's performance. 

As a group we looked at The Caucasian Chalk Circle. A scene was improvised where a rich snob only has a certain amount of time till the revolutionaries come over and take over the kingdom in which she choices to save her belongings over her son. However, as a class we looked at the some of the possible options that she could have taken. We came up with three different options. Mother Courage could stay with her child, she could stay and fight or she could accept her fate. In groups, we then staged the last scene from Mother Courage and her children. 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. In this scene, Mother Courage seems slightly humiliated about what is about to happen. She is confused and therefore panics and can not make a decision on what to do. The peasants follow along with whatever Mother Courage wants to do, as they are clearly of a lower class. We could communicate this by portraying the peasant to be rushing around doing what Mother Courage commands. 

In our scene, we decided to have two mother courages, Myself and Zoe playing them. One who was bleak and cold and didn't care about her daughter, the other, was loving and warm. I feel that the contrast between the two really worked because the audience were able to see two different sides to her and make their own opinions. The audience created their own opinion on the characters which is important because it gets them more involved which is what Brecht wanted to focus on. 

We staged our scene so that the audience had a clear understanding of each characters. As a group we decided at the end of the scene we would have two different endings. Josh would be the man who needed the money, and to show our contrast, I would give a lot of money where as Zoe would count her change. We both said our lines at the same time but with different tones of voices. Kim, Zion and Josh chanted the poem on chairs at the end of the scene. The audience where then able to see me pulling a kart along and receiving help from someone due to my generosity, where as Zoe struggling to pull a kart along by herself due to her bitter behaviour. I feel that this exercise gave me an understanding of Brechts ideas and how an audience perception is very important. I also feel that this technique helps the audience see who the character really is through their thoughts. The techniques highlights how one choice effects a whole situation. However, I feel it was more difficult to portray a mother because of the age range.