The Street Scene is a basic model for epic theater

Epic theater

Epic theatre was a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners, including Erwin Piscator, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold and, most famously, Bertolt Brecht...

 set forth by Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...

. It makes use of a simple, 'natural' incident, such as could be seen on any street corner: an eyewitness demonstrating

Demonstration (acting)

Demonstration is a central part of the Brechtian approach to acting. It implies a definite distance built into the actor's manner of playing a character ....

 to a collection of people how a traffic accident took place. "The bystanders may not have observed what happened, or they may simply not agree with him, may 'see things a different way'; the point is that the demonstrator

Demonstration (acting)

Demonstration is a central part of the Brechtian approach to acting. It implies a definite distance built into the actor's manner of playing a character ....

acts the behavior of driver or victim both in such a way that the bystanders are able to form an opinion about the incident." This model is set forth as the most primitive type of epic theater to be easily understood by the reader or listener.