Not...But

The 'Not...But' technique allows the audience to understand that a character has a multitude of choices throughout the play, though the texts states a character does one thing - there are many other options they could follow. It allows the audience to have an insight into the choices that the character may make, showing them that life is a lot more complicated and layered than what art may make it out to be. I find this technique a really interesting part of Brecht's approach to theatre as it really allows the audience to question why and how things end up to be the way they result to be. It leaves the audience questioning why the character chose to make a specific decision rather than going down a different path and what that decision reveals about the character.

Doing the group exercise of reenacting a scene from "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" really helped me further develop my understanding of how the Not...But technique can be used during performance. TJ's choice of breaking the fourth wall and considering the consequences allowed the audience to really understand the character's decision making, as well as distancing them from the situation - it also may reveal any inner thoughts and feelings of the characters that may have been unclear.. The choice TJ made as the Governess to divert from the original situation and protect her child suggested to the audience that she really does care about her son and his well being, however, as the story line falls back into it's original path - her true colours are shown. This is a really powerful technique as it reveals the true intention behind the characters and their characterisation to the audience, they're able to understand why the decision is being made.

I think during the group exercise their use of Not...But was extremely effective as it allowed us to see the layers of the Governess' character and you see she's a lot more complex than she seems on the surface. This was also aided by the character's use of gestus which involved pushing her son's head away as she passed - this really outlined the character's relationship with her son on a whole and what the entire scene was trying to represent; though she may feel some maternal care towards her son, she cares and fears for her jewels and furs more.