Peter Brook

Peter BrookCH, CBE

Peter Brook at the Peter Brook: EmptySpace Awards, London, in November

2009Born Peter Stephen Paul Brook

21 March 1925Chiswick, London

Occupation DirectorAwards Tony Award for Best

Direction of a Play1966 Marat/Sade1971 A Mids

Peter BrookFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaPeter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE(born 21 March 1925) is an Englishtheatre and lm director and innovator,who has been based in France since theearly 1970s.

Contents1 Biography

1.1 Life1.2 Inuences1.3 The Mahabharata1.4 Tierno Bokar

2 Work2.1 Major productions for theRSC2.2 Other major productions2.3 Filmography

3 Awards4 Honours5 Bibliography

5.1 By Brook5.2 About Brook

6 References7 External links

BiographyLifeBrook was born in London in March 1925, the son of Simon Brook and his wifeIda (Jansen), two Jewish immigrants from Latvia.[1] He was educated at

Peter Brook - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_...

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Westminster School, Gresham's School and Magdalen College, Oxford.He directed Dr Faustus, his rst production, in 1943 at the Torch Theatre inLondon, followed at the Chanticleer Theatre in 1945 with a revival of The InfernalMachine. In 1947, he went to Stratford-upon-Avon as assistant director on Romeoand Juliet and Love's Labour's Lost. From 1947 to 1950, he was Director ofProductions at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. His work there included ahighly controversial staging of Strauss Salome with sets by Salvador Dal andalso an eective re-staging of Puccinis La Boheme using sets dating from 1899. Aproliferation of stage and screen work as producer and director followed.In 1951, Brook married the actress Natasha Parry; the couple have a son and adaughter.In 1970, with Micheline Rozan, Brook founded the International Centre forTheatre Research, a multinational company of actors, dancers, musicians andothers which travelled widely in the Middle East and Africa in the early 1970s. Itis now based in Paris at the Boues du Nord theatre.[2] In 2008 he made thedecision to resign as artistic director of Boues du Nord, handing over to OlivierMantei and Olivier Poubelle in 2008.[3]

InuencesBrook was inuenced by the work of Antonin Artaud and his ideas for his Theatreof Cruelty.

In England, Peter Brook and Charles Marowitz undertook The Theatreof Cruelty Season (1964) at the Royal Shakespeare Company, aiming toexplore ways in which Artaud's ideas could be used to nd new forms ofexpression and retrain the performer. The result was a showing of'works in progress' made up of improvisations and sketches, one ofwhich was the premier of Artaud's The Spurt of Blood.

Lee Jamieson, Antonin Artaud: From Theory to Practice,Greenwich Exchange, 2007

His major inuence, however, was Joan Littlewood. Brook described her as "themost galvanising director in mid-20th century Britain".Brook's work is also inspired by the theories of experimental theatre of JerzyGrotowski,[4] Bertolt Brecht, Chris Covics and Vsevolod Meyerhold and by theworks of G. I. Gurdjie,[5] Edward Gordon Craig,[6] and Matila Ghyka.[7]

The Mahabharata


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In the mid 1970s,[8] Brook, with writer Jean-Claude Carrire, began work onadapting the Indian epic poem the Mahbhrata into a stage play which was rstperformed in 1985[9] and then later into a televised mini series.Tierno BokarIn 2005 Brook directed Tierno Bokar, based on the life of the Malian su of thesame name. The play was adapted for the stage by Marie-Helene Estienne from abook by Amadou Hampate Ba (translated into English as A Spirit of Tolerance:The Inspiring Life of Tierno Bokar). The book and play detail Bokar's life andmessage of religious tolerance. Columbia University produced 44 related events,lectures, and workshops that were attended by over 3,200 people throughout therun of Tierno Bokar. Panel discussions focused on topics of religious toleranceand Muslim tradition in West Africa.[10]

WorkMajor productions for the RSC

1950 Measure for Measure with John Gielgud (Shakespeare MemorialTheatre)1952 The Winter's Tale with John Gielgud (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre)1958 Titus Andronicus with Laurence Olivier (Shakespeare MemorialTheatre)1962 King Lear with Paul Scoeld1964 Marat/Sade1966 US an anti-Vietnam protest play with The Royal Shakespeare Company,documented in the lm Benet of the Doubt1970 A Midsummer Night's Dream with John Kane (Puck), Frances de la Tour(Helena), Ben Kingsley (Demetrius) and Patrick Stewart (Snout): see 1970Royal Shakespeare Company production of A Midsummer Night's Dream

Other major productions1955 : Hamlet with Paul Scoeld1958 : The Visit with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne1964 : Marat/Sade1968 : Oedipus with John Gielgud and Irene Worth


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1971-72 : Orghast in Persepolis by Ted Hughes1974 : Timon d' Athnes, adaptation Jean-Claude Carrire, Thtre desBoues du Nord1975 : The Iks by Colin Turnbull, adaptation Jean-Claude Carrire, Thtredes Boues du Nord1977 : Ubu aux Boues after Alfred Jarry, Thtre des Boues du Nord1978 : Mesure pour mesure by William Shakespeare, Thtre des Boues duNord1979 : La Confrence des oiseaux (The Conference of the Birds) after Faridal-Din Attar, Festival d'Avignon, Thtre des Boues du Nord1979 : L'Os de Mor Lam by Birago Diop, Thtre des Boues du Nord1981 : La Tragdie de Carmen after Prosper Mrime, Henri Meilhac andLudovic Halvy, Viviane Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, New York1981 : La Cerisaie by Anton Chekhov, Thtre des Boues du Nord1984 : Tchin-Tchin by Franois Billetdoux, mise en scne with MauriceBnichou, with Marcello Mastroianni, Thtre Montparnasse1985 : Le Mahabharata, (The Mahabharata) Festival d'Avignon1988 : The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, Majestic Theatre, Brooklyn1989 : Woza Albert! by Percy Mtawa, Mbongeni Ngema et Barney Simon1990 : La Tempte by William Shakespeare, adaptation Jean-Claude Carrire,with Sotigui Kouyat, Thtre des Boues du Nord1992 : Impressions de Pellas after Claude Debussy, Thtre des Boues duNord1993 : L'Homme Qui after The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by OliverSacks1995 : Qui est l after texts by Antonin Artaud, Bertolt Brecht, EdwardGordon Craig, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Stanislavski and Motokiyo Zeami1995 : Oh les beaux jours by Samuel Beckett1998 : Je suis un phnomne after prodigieuse mmoire by Alexander Luria1998 : Don Giovanni by Mozart, cration au 50me Festival internationald'art lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence1999 : Le Costume by Can Themba2000 : Hamlet by William Shakespeare, with Adrian Lester2002 : Far Away by Caryl Churchill


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2002 : La Mort de Krishna extrait du Mahabharata de Vyasa, adaptationJean-Claude Carrire and Marie-Hlne Estienne2003 : Ta main dans la mienne by Carol Rocamora2004 : Tierno Bokar after Vie et enseignement de Tierno Bokar-Le sage deBandiagara by Amadou Hampt B, with Sotigui Kouyat2004 : Le Grand Inquisiteur after The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky2006 : Sizwe Banzi est mort by Athol Fugard, John Kani and WinstonNtshona, Festival d'Avignon2008 : Fragments after Samuel Beckett2009 : Love is my sin sonnets by William Shakespeare2009 : 11 and 12 after Vie et enseignement de Tierno Bokar-Le Sage deBandiagara by Amadou Hampt B2010 : Warum warum by Peter Brook et Marie-Hlne Estienne after AntoninArtaud, Edward Gordon Craig, Charles Dullin, Vsevolod Meyerhold, MotokiyoZeami and William Shakespeare2011 : A Magic Flute an adaptation of the opera The Magic Flute by Mozart.Directed with Marie-Hlne Estienne, Composer Franck Krawczyk to positivereviews (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/arts/music/a-streamlined-magic-ute-reimagined-by-peter-brook.html) at the Gerald W. Lynch Theaterof John Jay College.2013 : The Suit after Can Themba's tale. Directed with Marie-HlneEstienne, Franck Krawczyk.

Filmography1953, The Beggar's Opera1960, Moderato Cantabile (UK title Seven Days... Seven Nights)1963, Lord of the Flies1967, Ride of the Valkyrie1967, Marat/Sade1968, Tell Me Lies1971, King Lear1979, Meetings with Remarkable Men1979, Mesure pour mesure1982, La Cerisaie


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1983, La Tragdie de Carmen1989, The Mahabharata2002, The Tragedy of Hamlet (TV)

AwardsTony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Marat/Sade, 1966[11]Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for A Midsummer Night's Dream,1971Freiherr von Stein Foundation Shakespeare Award, 1973Grand Prix Dominique, 1975Brigadier Prize, 1975, for Timon of AthensSociety of West End Theatre Award, 1983Emmy Award, 1984, for La tragdie de CarmenPrix Italia, 1984Europe Theatre Prize.[12]International Emmy Award, 1990, for The MahabharataPraemium Imperiale, 1997Dan David prize, 2005The Ibsen Award for 2008, rst winner of the prize of NOK2.5 mill(approximately 200,000).[13]Critics' Circle Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts 2008

HonoursCommander of the Order of the British Empire, 1965Induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame, 1983 [14]Honorary DLitt, University of Birmingham, 1990Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, 1991Honorary DLitt, University of Strathclyde, 1990Honorary DLitt, University of Oxford, 1994Ocier de l'Ordre de la Lgion d'honneur (France), 1995Companion of Honour, 1998Commandeur de la Lgion d'honneur (France), 2013


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BibliographyBy Brook

Brook, Peter (1968). The Empty Space. Penguin (2008).Brook, Peter (1988). The Shifting Point. UK: Methuen Drama.ISBN 0-413-61280-5.Brook, Peter (1991). Le Diable c'est l'ennui.Brook, Peter (1993). There Are No Secrets. Methuen Drama.Brook, Peter (1995). The Open Door.Brook, Peter (1998). Threads of Time: Recollections.Brook, Peter (1999). Evoking Shakespeare. Nick Hern Books (2nd Ed 2002).

About BrookJamieson, Lee, Antonin Artaud: From Theory to Practice (GreenwichExchange: London, 2007) Contains practical exercises on Artaud drawn fromBrook's Theatre of Cruelty Season at the RSC. ISBN 978-1-871551-98-3Freeman, John, 'The Greatest Shows on Earth: World Theatre from PeterBrook to the Sydney Olympics'. Libri: Oxford ISBN 978 1 907471 54 4Heilpern, John, Conference of the Birds: The Story of Peter Brook in Africa,Faber, 1977, ISBN 0-571-10372-3Hunt, Albert and Georey Reeves. Peter Brook (Directors in Perspective).Cambridge University Press. (1995)Kustow, Michael. Peter Brook: A Biography. Bloomsbury. (2005)Mott, Dale, Between Two Silences: Talking with Peter Brook (1999)Todd, Andrew and Jean-Guy Lecat, The Open Circle: Peter Brook's TheatreEnvironments (2003)Trewin, J. C. Peter Brook: A Biography. (1971)Trowbridge, Simon. The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the RoyalShakespeare Company. Oxford: Editions Albert Creed, 2010. ISBN978-0-9559830-2-3.Zohar, Ouriel, Meetings with Peter Brook, Zohar, Tel-Aviv 176 p. (1990) (He).

References


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^ Aronson, Arnold (2005-05-25). "PeterBrook: A Biography"(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/24/arts/24iht-bookwed.html?_r=0).The New York Times.

1.

^ Chambers, Colin The ContinuumCompanion To Twentieth CenturyTheatre (Continuum, 2002, ISBN0-8264-4959-X) p. 384

2.

^ Chrisas, Angelique (2008-12-17)."Interview: Peter Brook says a longgoodbye to his Paris theatre"(http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/dec/17/peter-brook-boues-nord-paris). London: Guardian.Retrieved 2008-12-29.

3.

^ Brook, Peter (1968). The EmptySpace.

4.

^ Nicolescu, Basarab; Williams, David(1997). "Peter Brook and TraditionalThought"(http://www.experimentaltheatre.org/peter_brook.htm). ContemporaryTheatre Review (Overseas PublishersAssociation) 7: 1123.doi:10.1080/10486809708568441(http://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2F10486809708568441).

5.

^ "Pas de deux"(http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/mar/07/isadora-duncan) byMichael Holroyd, The Guardian,Saturday 7 March 2009

6.

^ Gibbons, Fiachra The prayers ofPeter Brook(http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/jan/17/peter-brook-eleven-twelve) The Guardian, 17 January2010.

7.

^ Morgenstern, Joe (April 17, 1988)."Jean-Claude Pierre; the Mahabharata,the great history of mankind -interview about the stage adaptation"(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE1DC143AF934A25757C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2). NewYork Times. Retrieved 2007-10-06.

8.

^ Carriere, Jean-Claude (September1989). "Jean-Claude Carriere; theMahabharata, the great history ofmankind - interview about the stageadaptation" (http://ndarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_1989_Sept/ai_8067489). UNESCO Courier.Retrieved 2007-10-06.

9.

^ Columbia University, "Record ofEvents"(http://www.tiernobokar.columbia.edu)

10.

^ "Tony Awards"(http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search?start=0&year=&award=&lname=Peter+Brook&fname=&show=). Retrieved2008-02-13.

11.

^ II Europe Theatre Prize / Reasons(http://www.premio-europa.org/open_page.php?id=728) EuropeTheatre Prize

12.


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^ "British director wins the IbsenPrize" (http://www.norway.org/culture/literature/ibsen+prize.htm).Norway.org. Retrieved 2008-08-21.

13. ^ "Theater Hall of Fame Gets 10 NewMembers" (http://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/10/theater/theater-hall-of-fame-gets-10-new-members.html). NewYork Times. May 10, 1983.

14.

External linksPeter Brook ocial website (http://www.peterbrook.net)The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the RSC: Online database bySimon Trowbridge (http://www.stratfordians.org.uk/)Dan David Prize laureate 2005 (http://www.dandavidprize.org/index.php/laureates/laureates-2005/65-2005-present-the-performing-arts-lm-theater-dance-music/102-peter-brook.html)Peter Brook biography and lmography (http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/471253) at the British Film Institute's ScreenonlinePeter Brook (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0111656/) at the Internet MovieDatabaseScreener for Brook by Brook (http://youtube.com/watch?v=hLni1arIeYM)Peter Brook prole by Experimental Theatre Organization(http://www.experimentaltheatre.org/new_page_1.htm)Review of Brook's Mahabharata in Caravan Magazine(http://www.caravanmagazine.in/Story/425/The-Mahabharata-of-Our-Times.html)Master's Degree in Urban Scenography in Barcelona (http://www.uic.es/en/scenography)

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Peter Brook

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