Grotowski and Peter Brook Notes

 Grotowski was a playwright and theorist from Poland. He took the ideas of Artaud and amplified them to the extreme. Traditional stages were rejected, as was almost all convention, very little to no lines, very little to no realism, it was all emotion. Grotowski wanted people to feel more than anything, but he wanted them not just to sympathize or empathize but literally feel what the character was feeling. Through repeated movements, interpretive movements and actions, and minimal set design, Grotowski was able to achieve in conveying the intended emotion without necessarily needing props or a script. Much of his theater feels devised, and it is in this rawness that the intended effect is maintained. Peter Brook is in many ways what Stalinavsky might've been had he come at a later time. Peter Brook focuses on catharsis and feeling, but also still maintains a story. He put's an emphasis on empty space in a theater, and the story it can tell, as well as non-directional directing, or the process of leading actors to realize for themselves what they want to portray for the character, as opposed to telling them outright. Brook put's a focus on the utilization of props and costuming to achieve suspense of disbelief, and also in many ways employs theater of cruelty through his use of lighting and sound. Brook is the most modern of all the theorists, and it shows through his amplification of methods that came before, in order to best convey emotion and catharsis.