Peter Brook

For the Conservative British politician, see Peter Brooke.

Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH CBE (born 21 March 1925) is a highly influential British theatrical producer and director.

Born in London, England, United Kingdom, he studied at Westminster School, Gresham's School and Oxford, and made his directorial debut in 1945 at Birmingham Rep after being discovered by Barry Jackson (theatre director). During the 1950s he worked on many productions in Britain, Europe, and the USA, and in 1962 returned to Stratford-upon-Avon to join the newly established Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Throughout the 1960s he directed many ground breaking productions for the RSC before in 1970 forming his own company, the International Centre for Theatre Research in Paris. This company focussed on lengthy development of new works; frequently taking actors to live in distant places to assist in building the work. Always focussing on the actor's story-telling skills, Brook's company produced works that took theatre beyond conventional theatre walls, with some works of exceptional quality and length; The Mahabharata for example challenged audiences and performers, running for some twelve hours, beginning at dusk, running the entire night, and concluding at dawn.

Many of his productions are regarded as masterpieces of modern theatre.

Influences

His work is inspired by the theories of experimental theatre of Jerzy Grotowski, Bertolt Brecht, Meyerhold, Antonin Artaud, G. I. Gurdjieff and the works of Stuart Davis

Major productions for the RSC

• 1950 Measure for Measure with John Gielgud (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre)
• 1952 The Winter's Tale with John Gielgud (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre)
• 1958 Titus Andronicus with Laurence Olivier (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre)
• 1962 King Lear with Paul Scofield
• 1964 Marat/Sade
• 1966 US an anti-Vietnam protest play with the The Royal Shakespeare Company, documented in the film Benefit of the Doubt
• 1971 A Midsummer Night's Dream with Ben Kingsley and Patrick Stewart

Other major productions

• Hamlet with Paul Scofield
• The Visit with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne
• Marat/Sade
• Oedipus with John Gielgud and Irene Worth
• The Conference of the Birds
• The Ik
• The Mahabharata

Films

• 1953, The Beggar's Opera
• 1960, Moderato cantabile (UK title Seven Days... Seven Nights)
• 1963, Lord of the Flies
• 1967, Ride of the Valkyrie
• 1967, Marat/Sade
• 1968, Tell Me Lies
• 1971, King Lear
• 1979, Meetings with Remarkable Men
• 1979, Mesure pour mesure
• 1982, La Cerisaie
• 1983, La Tragédie de Carmen
• 1989, The Mahabharata
• 2002, The Tragedy of Hamlet

Honors

Commander of the British Empire, 1965
Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Marat/Sade, 1966
Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1971
Companion of Honour, 1998

Books

• Brook, Peter (1969). The Empty Space.
• Brook, Peter (1988). The Shifting Point. UK: Methuen Drama. ISBN 0-4136-1280-5.
• Brook, Peter (1995). The Open Door.
• Brook, Peter (1999). Threads of Time: Recollections.

References

• Peter Brook, Threads of Time (1998)
• Gregory Boyd, ed., Between Two Silences: Talking with Peter Brook (1999)
• Biographies by J. C. Trewin (1971) and A. Hunt and G. Reeves (1995)
• Andrew Todd and Jean-Guy Lecat, The Open Circle: Peter Brook's Theatre Environments (2003)

External links

• Dan David Prize, Dan David Prize laureate 2005
• www.peterbrook.net
• Peter Brook biography and filmography at the BFI's Screenonline
• Peter Brook at IMDb