Epic Theatre Escape Room
What is Epic Theatre? Forget everything you thought you knew about studying drama theory. Forget endless note-taking and trying to memorise definitions. It’s time to put your knowledge to the test in a challenge built for the digital age.
Welcome to the Epic Theatre Escape Room, an interactive adventure designed to see if you have what it takes to master one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary theatre practitioners: Bertolt Brecht.
Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It…
The premise is simple: you are locked in a series of ten virtual rooms. Each room is a puzzle, a challenge based on one of Bertolt Brecht’s core Epic Theatre conventions. What’s a convention, I hear you say? A convention is another word for an accepted technique. It could be exclusively an acting technique, or it may be a staging technique instead. These techniques, which we are now going to call conventions, usually belong to a particular theatre style.
The only way to unlock the next room is to solve the puzzle in front of you. Solve all ten, and you escape, proving yourself a master of Epic Theatre theory. Fail, and you’ll be trapped forever… or at least until you try again!
This isn’t just a quiz. It’s a hands-on experience that will force you to think like a director, a designer, and an Epic Theatre performer.
A Glimpse of the Epic Theatre Challenges Inside
What kind of puzzles stand between you and freedom?
- In the Episodic Structure Room, you’ll be given a dramatic story, torn into seven pieces. It’s up to you to drag and drop the scenes into the correct order, learning how Bertolt Brecht used jumbled narratives to make his audience think, not just feel.
- In the Gestus Room, you’ll control digital actors. Your challenge is to use a simple slider to adjust their posture and find the single “social gesture” that tells the entire story of their relationship without a single word of dialogue.
- In the Song as Commentary Room, you’ll be a theatrical DJ. After witnessing a dramatic scene, you must choose the one song that would interrupt the action and force the audience to think critically about the social issues at play.
- In the Symbolic Scenery Room, you’ll step into the shoes of a set designer. With a limited selection of props, you must choose the few symbolic items that capture the essence of a scene, learning why Bertolt Brecht rejected cluttered, realistic stages.
Why Take the Challenge? (Besides Bragging Rights)
Okay, escaping first is a pretty good reason, but this tool is also your secret weapon for acing your drama course.
- Actually Understand the Theory: These puzzles make abstract ideas click. You won’t just memorise the definition of “Verfremdungseffekt”; you’ll actively create it. The concepts will stick in your head because you’ve actually used them.
- Ace Your Exams: The escape room is the ultimate revision tool. It tests your ability to apply your knowledge, which is precisely what your teachers are looking for in your essays and practical exams.
- Think Like a Theatre Maker: You’ll be making choices about storytelling, design, and performance. It shifts your perspective from that of a student to that of a creative practitioner.
- It’s Genuinely Fun: This is probably the most enjoyable way you’ll ever study theatre theory. Challenge your classmates. See who truly understands Bertolt Brecht’s genius.
The door is locked. The puzzles are set. Your knowledge of Epic Theatre is the only key.
Do you have what it takes to escape? There’s only one way to find out. Hit the “Begin Adventure” button below and let the challenge begin. Good luck!
Teacher Corner
If you are wanting to know more about how to implement this Epic Theatre Escape Room into your curriculum, read the accompanying post on the Drama Teacher website.
