Peter Brook, drama theorist?

Question

Can anyone tell me any helpful information about the dramatic theories of Peter Brook?

I've googled him, but haven't found anything particularly useful. Also, I'm reading his book "The Empty Space".

Any information would be apreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

It isn't easy to summarize Brook's work in any single set of "theories" because the thrust of his work is more experimental than theoretical.

His ideas revolve around trying to break down the classic conventions of theater, which he found to be formulaic, in search of more powerful and affecting styles. He called that classic theater "Deadly Theater".

He also identifies "Holy Theater", which seeks out the spiritual and ritualistic nature of theater, and "Rough Theater", which is more like today's blockbuster movies, popular but without pretensions to art most of the time.

He wants to put on the fourth kind, "Immediate Theater", which is essentially everything else. As a theory this is pretty useless; the divisions are vague and not terribly informative. But it does drive a notion of experimental theater: look at everybody else's theories and try to do something different.

That makes it difficult to identify any particular driving element of each one of his projects, except that each one is usually a reaction to one or more other theatrical theories.

Read "The Empty Space" and you'll see what I'm getting at here. His key insight isn't any particular theory per se but to try to understand the other theories and break out of them. It's all very post-modern.

Answer 2

Peter Brook Rough Theatre

Answer 3

Enormously influential theatre practitioner.

If you can, try to get your hands on a copy of his film version of "King Lear," starring Paul Scofield. Brilliant!

Answer 4

http://www.gurdjieff.org/nicolescu3.htm