Bertolt Brecht’s “On Chinese Acting” explores the concept of cognitive dissonance within the realm of acting, as well as specific types of acting. Specifically, Brecht poses the example of a scene in which “a girl leaves her family to take a job in a big city,” and as her mother hands over the girl’s packed bags, she says, “well, I think that’ll be enough.” Brecht explores the considerations that must go into acting a such a line through a comparison of Chinese and European acting techniques. Brecht’s philosophy dictates that giving a mundane event the significance of a theater production necessitates — when done well — the acknowledgment of the deliberate efforts on part of the actor to make the mundane event appear significant. The definition of what exactly is mundane is, after all, predicated upon history and the “historical nature of a given social condition.” The event of a girl leaving home to go work some place else is commonplace, having taken place millions of times as a normal, expected facet of society. Therefore, the mundanity of an event is historically contextualized. To avert the cognitive dissonance that inevitably arises upon the masking of what is an objectively mundane event, with painted-on (subjective) significance no less, further necessitates “handing [the mother’s line] over for criticism.” Such “handing over” is inherently a mutual act, with the actor of the mother being the “giver” and the audience being the “receiver.” This act is displayed to its fullest potential with the alienation effect, precluding the mirage of an actor so ensconced in their own play that they aren’t conscious of their own action of giving. Brecht’s interpretation of Chinese acting is engaging in the depth with which it analyzes the audience’s psyche to the level of the subconscious — however, at the same time leaves one questioning the merits of straining for the impossible — bridging that cognitive dissonance with such sincerity and skill that even the audience forgets the historical context of an action or line. Or, even better, the meaning attached to historical context is rendered void by the success with which the European acting style recreates reality.