EPIC THEATRE: THEORY AND PRACTICE IN THE SPECIAL THEATRICAL EDUCATION

The theatre of Berthold Brecht is well known in the Russian theatrical space. Attitudes towards Brecht's dramaturgy and his theories have changed at different stages in the development of Soviet and Russian theatre art, and approaches to staging his plays in theatres have also changed, but the practice of authentic reading of the epic theatre theory still remains poorly understood. The author systematizes the most characteristic elements of Brecht's epic theatre, such as alienation and social gestus, and considers the practical aspects of their implementation (miseen- scène, music, scenography) in authentic or closely related theatre productions, as well as theatrical forms, which to some degree meet the goals and the tasks that Brecht set for the theatre. The author reconstructed the system of epic theatre in the work on the play "The Threepenny Opera" with the final year students of the "Theatre Directing" specialty, in which an attempt was made to rethink the foundations of the Brecht theatre from a contemporary perspective. In conclusion, the author considers the experience of this work as a factor in the formation of students' abilities for creative search beyond the formal techniques learned in the basic school of Russian psychological theatre.