Product Description

"One of the century's most impressive theatrical manifestos" - Irving Wardle Jerzy Grotowski created the Theatre Laboratory in Opole, South-West Poland, in 1959. His work since then, with a small permanent company, became one of the most potent sources of information for modern actors and directors. This is a record of the ideas that motivated the work of the Theatre Laboratory, and of the company's methods and discoveries.In his Preface Peter Brook writes: "Grotowski is unique. Why? Because no one else in the world, to my knowledge no one since Stanislavski, has investigated the nature of acting, its phenomenon, its meaning, the nature and science of its mental-physical-emotional processes as deeply and completely as Grotowski."Grotowski's Theatre Laboratory Company was first seen in Britain at the Edinburgh Festival in 1968 and went on to international fame.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35140 in Books
• Published on: 1975-04-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 218 pages

Customer Reviews

Common sense and mysticism
Grotowski's book encapsulates his thought and techniques based on years of interrogating the fundamental building blocks of theatre. His method (which can not be called a coherent system)is a stripping away of obstacles and artifices rather than an accumulation of techniques or 'tricks'. A puritian and evangelist, his teachings often smack of piety and a religious zeal. However, he claims to be preaching from a secular (anti-Catholic) standpoint. Theatre for Grotowski is what happens between the performer and the spectator. He jettisons scenic design, lighting and artifice therefore, and interrogates physical actions. His exercises have close associations with Asana Yoga whereby spiritual depths are accessed via physcial discipline. An inspiring, and as Peter Brook says in his foreward, provocative book. Eager students or artists looking for quick fix answers, gimmicks or techniques they can steal will be unfulfilled. Not since Stanislavski has anyone interrogated the art of acting and attempted to formulate a concordance of helpful observations in such depth and detail. The legacy of Grotowski has influenced our best present directors; from Peter Brook, Richard Wilson, Robert Le Page, Karma Ginkas and Yoshi Oida to name a few.