Dramatic vs Epic

Here i'm going to talk about some of the key differences between Dramatic theatre and Epic theatre and which techniques i believe are more effective.

Feeling vs Reason
In dramatic theatre you are often compelled to feel a certain way toward a character, emotionally investing in that character whereas in epic theatre you are often not allowed that opportunity to feel connect to the character in a personal way but are reasoning with yourself about how you feel toward them but above all the message of the play.

In epic theatre you are lead to question and challenge your self on the whole topic of the play rather than the individual topic of each character. 

I believe that dramatic theatre in this sense is more effective as for me i am more likely to feel a connection to the play AND its message if i am emotionally involved with characters. I think you can say a lot more when you allow your audience to invest in the characters and can create an interesting dynamic for example: you could make your audience emotionally invest in a criminal and use that  strange idea that you are routing for someone who is socially seen as a "bad person" which in itself makes you reason with yourself and the social norms. 

Eyes on the finish vs Eyes on the course
Throughout dramatic theatre they play if focused on the final outcome of the plot and often the finish is where the characters reach their realisations whereas in epic theatre the characters change, grown and realise throughout the course of the play, creating a piece which is ever changing as it isn't cemented to having a defining end point. 

In epic theatre you focus on the characters journey throughout the play and i believe this is more effective than dramatic theatre as you get to see more of the characters destination, for example in dramatic theatre you only really see that characters defining point at the end of the play which is a summary of the plot but with epic theatre you could have multiple defining moments through the journey which shapes that person.

I like epic theatres "eyes on the course" more than dramatic theatres "eyes on the finish" as it opens up the play into more freedom, you are constantly see the characters grow and realise which i believe is more interesting and funnily enough more naturalistic as this is what happens in real life.