Brecht’s Epic Theatre And “RuPaul’s Drag Race”

Nadine Friedman: “On RuPaul’s Drag Race, every capitalist wink to iTunes and each meta-musical number conjures Brecht’s Epic Theatre, teaching that pop culture zeitgeists can be fronts for transformative ideas about society. Drag Race, and its role in creating more intersectional media, stimulates what Brecht called for nearly a century ago through his V-effekt: “a desire for understanding, a delight in changing reality’.”