Bertolt Brecht and Tabletop Roleplay

In his Short Organum For The Theatre, Bertolt Brecht makes the following observation;

If we ensure that our characters on the stage are moved by social impulses and that these differ according to the period, then we make it harder for for our spectator to identify with them. He cannot simply feel: that's how I would act, but can at most say: if I had lived under those circumstances. and if we play works dealing with our own time as though they were historical, then perhaps the circumstances under which he himself acts will strike him as equally odd; and this is where the critical attitude begins.

In many ways, this gets to the heart of the analysis of Role-Playing Games which is currently the focus of my dissertation research. Let's be clear on what is being said: Brecht is putting forth that the characters on stage act not as subjects but as objects, moved by their social conditions. His "critical attitude" is a result of having characters moving as if by the social conditions of today, in a historical setting. This is arguably where the RPG excels - we may play at being characters in fantasy settings, or in real history, or in whatever scenario, but at some point the characters are being played by people influenced by current day social impulses, and those impulses will reflect down onto the characters. A wonderful example is Grey Ranks by Bully Pulpit Games, a game about child soldiers during the 1945 Warsaw uprising, which I have recently had the joy of playing through a full three-session game of. And I do mean joy - it was one of the greatest, most emotional experiences I have ever had whilst roleplaying. But this is where it becomes interesting - I'm not 16-year-old girl from 1940's Warsaw. I don't have the experience of that, and I certainly don't know the social impulses that she would be moved by. My portrayal of that character was through the lense of a 24-year-old male university student from 21st century Scotland. In many ways, the same can be said of any RPG - do I empathise with my characters? Or is it perhaps more true that my representation of them is an untrue one - one which is shaped by who I am, and how I see the world? My thesis is a simple one: that by taking on board an awareness of this, the RPG just as Brecht's epic theatre can be used to harness the so-called critical attitude and to allow a deeper examination of the truth of one's being.