(German: Das epische Theater) A form of theater created by Bertolt Brecht and opposed to the Aristotelian form, also known as the "dramatical form" (Brecht's term).

Brecht compared the dramatical form with his own epic form through a now fairly well-known list of features (shortened list shown below).

Whereas the dramatical form had the characteristics of:

the epic form was characterized by:

Also important and characteristic of epic theater are "Verfremdung" and "Lehrstücke", meaning "alienation" and "teaching-pieces" respectively, though both German terms are commonly used in literary circles.


Note: all translations my own