Bertolt Brechts aggressive political idealism and determination in using art to pose challenging questions about the conflicts between society and morality generated intense controversy throughout his lifetime. Technically, by his late twenties, Brecht had begun to envision a new theatrical system that would serve his political and artistic sensibility. He saw the stage as an ideological forum for leftist causes and wanted to create theater that depicted human experience with the brutality and intensity of a boxing match. He rejected the conventions of stage realism and Aristotelian drama, which offer empathetic identification with a hero and emotional catharsis. Brecht did not want his audience to feel, but rather to be shocked, intellectually stimulated, and motivated to take action against an unjust society and to awaken them to social responsibility. (Brecht: 1957, 78) The Threepenny Opera (1928) is an early example of his epic theater, consisting of theatrical innovations designed to sharpen the spectators critical ability and to shake him out of his complacency and expect more from the theater than entertainment. (Cardullo: 2008, 75) Epic theater uses alienating devices, such as placards, asides to the audience, projected images, discordant music and lighting, and disconnected episodes to frustrate the viewers expectations for simple entertainment.