A street scene () is a basic model for

epic theater Epic theatre (german: episches Theater) is a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners who responded to the political climate of the time through the creati ...

set forth by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

. It makes use of a simple, "natural" incident, such as could be seen on any street corner: an eyewitness demonstrating to a collection of people how a traffic accident took place. "The bystanders may not have observed what happened, or they may simply not agree with him, may 'see things a different way'; the point is that the demonstrator acts the behavior of driver or victim both in such a way that the bystanders are able to form an opinion about the incident."Brecht, Bertolt. 1950. "The Street Scene: A Basic Model for an Epic Theatre." ''Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic.'' Ed. and trans. John Willett. London: Methuen, 1964. . pp. 121–129. This model is set forth as the most primitive type of epic theater to be easily understood by the reader or listener.

References

Bertolt Brecht theories and techniques Stage terminology {{theat-stub