Bertolt Brecht was a theatre practitioner who grew up in Germany and studied medicine before becoming interested in the social and political effects of theatre. He established a type of theatre known as Epic Theatre

He spent a period of his life in America, where he was eventually charged on suspicion of being a communist. He founded the Berliner Ensemble theatre company based upon his ideas and theories.

Brecht believed that all theatre should have a purpose, social or political. He disliked the theatre of other practitioners such as Stanislavsky who preached realism in the theatre. Realistic theatre told a story for the sake of the story and absorbed the audience totally into the imaginary world of the play. In retaliation Brecht developed what is called the Verfremdungeffekt in German. This translates as alienation or estrangement, but the term "distancing effect" would be more appropriate. Brecht wanted to remind the audience constantly that they were in a theatre, so that they would not become emotionally entangled in the play but could look at the issues it presented objectively, forming opinions. Brecht aimed to challenge thought.

He used many techniques in order to create this objective distance between actor and audience. Actors did not transform into their roles a la Stanislavsky, but demonstrated characters that were often theatrically stereotypical or representational. For example Brechtian actors stepped in and out of role, often commented on the action, played multiple roles, spoke in third person at times and directly addressed the audience - all to remind them of the presence of the actors beneath the performance. In Brechtian theatre the issues under debate are far more important than the emotional concerns of the hero/ine and the plotline. Brecht used comedy to distance his audiences from emotional or serious events and was very influenced by musicals and fair ground performers, his plays incorporating music and song.

Brecht thought it was important that the choices the characters made were evident. He tried to develop a style of acting wherein it was evident that the characters were choosing one action over another.

The technique of Gestus is designed to demonstrate to the audience the very essence and soul of a character. An actor can perform a gesture or a tableux in a stylised manner that communicates the type of the character and what exctly they represent in the play to the audience in a split second. The function of the character is established.

Brecht's Verfremdungeffekt is similar to what many refer to as "breaking the fourth wall."