The open door
Subtitle: thoughts on acting and theatre
By: Peter Brook.
Edition: 1st Anchor Books ed.
Publisher: Anchor Books
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 145
Subjects: Theater; Acting; Drama
Description: From King Lear to the Tragedy of Carmen, from Marat/Sade to the epic Mahabharata, the author has reinvented modern theatre, not once but again and again. In this work the visionary director and theorist offers a lucid, comprehensive exposition of the philosophy that underlies his work. It is a philosophy of paradoxes: We come to the theatre to find life, but that life must be different from the life we find outside. Actors have to prepare painstakingly yet be willing to sacrifice the results of their preparation. The director's most reliable tool may be his capacity to be bored. The author illustrates these principles with anecdotes that span his entire career and that demonstrate his familiarity with Shakespeare, Chekhov, and the indigenous theatres of India and Iran. The result is a look at what happens both onstage and behind the scenes.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 145).
Originally published: New York : Theatre Communications Group, 1993.