Notes

• Peter brook
o English theatre and film director – 1925 in london
o Based in france since early 70s
o Has directed over 60 productions

o Worked with royal Shakespeare company to direct the first English production of marat/sade in 1964 which later transferred to broadway, earning him a tony award. – later the director

o He was interested in theatre from a young age - some of the anecdotes online said about how he performed a four hour version of hamlet when he was seven and then he went on to direct at Stratford theatre at age 21

• EMPTY SPACE
• Based on lectures
o He writes a series of essays that discuss the aspects of contemporary theatre that stop it from fulfilling its purpose and ways that this should be changed for the purpose to be fully realized. The main point is that theatre exists to broaden the audience’s understanding of the human condition.
o
o So there are thought to be four types of theatre.
written about in relation to the idea of the empty space which is (sort of) the idea that any space can be a theatre because theatre relies on the actors rather than a space. Some examples given of where theatre has been made are London commercial venues, Broadway, renovated churches, bombed out ballrooms in Germany, and even people's living rooms.


The first essay focuses on the idea of deadly theatre which is basically summarised as theatre that is not engaging and not impacting.
Theatre of commerce
So its said to be defined by its ‘passivity in relation to creators, actors, directors and audience.’ So its like the idea that everyone is doing the expected thing and just doing what directors before have done and replicating that. It creates what the audience have already seen and liked in the hopes that it will create the same reaction but inevitably bores the audience. An example of this is when Shakespeare productions are recreated in the same way. One of his influences was Shakespeare and he says that his work is always contemporary but aims to change the way in which it is recreated.
o He says that a lot of the time when theatre is replicated using the same techniques the piece will receive good reviews because the audience is forced to overthink the piece and convinces themselves it was better than it was when it was actually just deadly theatre.

• HOLY
• Abstract realm – eternal (feelings thought ideas) external
• The next type is holy theatre – focuses on making the invisible visible by showing emotions and feelings that aren’t normally expressed. The idea is that holy theatre should make the audience question the human condition and their own beliefs. So it refers to holy in terms of being holistic and how holy theatre should show a well rounded view of everything by showing ‘everything that escapes our senses and putting it on stage’ Two successful ways to end a performance – applause and scilence. (audience contemplating)
ROUGH
• The third essay focuses on the idea of rough theatre which focuses on techniques based on spontaneity, impulse, and raw emotional expression.
• So rough theatre is thought to look at every day life and the performances that take places in informal settings. He thought that this theatre is the most honest and would connect with audiene memebers the most.
• He says that rough theatre should be combined with holy theatre the bring ‘enlightenment’ by examining all aspects of every day life.
• He uses a lot of examples of Shakespeare to describe this
• Also the most important difference between holy theatre and rough theatre seems to be that where holy theatre deals with ‘hidden impulses’, whereas rough theatre looks at more real events and actions.
IMMEDIATE
The last type of theatre mentioned is immediate theatre which is descried as theatre that “asserts itself in the present”.
• Combination of rough and holy theatre (this is a quote) ‘illuminates the human truth and experience to an audience in an immediate, visceral, sometimes sub-conscious, but always revelatory way.’
• Idea of human truth



INFLUENCES
Artaud
Peter Brook wanted a theatrical experience that ‘shook the senses’
So when he was working with the royal Shakespeare company he directed the theatre of cruelty season which experimented with ways that Artaud’s techniques could retrain the performer and create new forms of expression. The season was made up of bits of showcased improve and sketches and was the premier of artaud’s play the spurt of blood. He used this season to try and put less of a focus on stars by doing a lot of improve ensemble work to search for the meaning of holy theatre.

Joan littlewood –
English theatre director of a similar time – slightly earlier than brook (born in 1914) - who has been called the mother of modern theatre. was the director of the Theatre Workshop Company, which was based in the Theatre Royal in Stratford. The company was dedicated to performing plays about the working class class characters. She produced a taste of honey.
SHE ADAPTED ideas from European theatre practitioners and specifically Brecht. Shes (apparently) most noted for popularising improvisation techniques into rehearsals (debatable) and bringing theatre to working class audiences.

Peter brook called her ‘most galvanising director in mid-20th century Britain" – apparently she despised him

He also credited Grotowski, brecht and Meyerhold as his inspirations




PRODUCTIONS
- SALOME - 1949
- when he was director of productions at the opera house in covent garden, Richard strauss’ opera - used– was overall very controversial - ‘Salvador dali as a set designer (controversial at the time) - hallucinatory fantasy’
- it was criticized at the time for putting style above substance and the main argument for this seemed to focus on the fact that they had these large geometric headdresses on the actors that were said to have affected the audiences ability to heat the singers. – when he left the opera he called it deadly theatre

MARAT SADE
o In 1964 he directed marat sade -which was the play he won a tony for and it was later one of the seven films he directed
‘deployed every theatrical device known to man’

MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM
- Used trapezes, juggling, and circus effects, he wanted to create a sense magic, joy, and celebration by making an adaptation of a Shakespeare play that wasn’t deadly theatre – wanted to reinvent what it could be.
Called ‘A liberating, landmark production that brought out the dark eroticism under the play’s humour.’
- Wanted to stop deadly theatre by reinventing shakespeare
- LINK
-
THE MAN WHO
About a neurological disorder
Created in paris - the play premiered as L'homme qui in 1993 – the rehersrsal process focused on a lot on research, improvisation and exploration. The initial inspiration for the play was the 1985 book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by neurologist Oliver Sacks. Brooke used theatre to examine the working of the human brain which sort of epitomizes his ideas that theatre should show a well rounded view of the human condition.