The Empty Space

The Empty Space is a 1968 book by Peter Brook that examines theatrical practice and theory through four categories: Deadly, Holy, Rough, and Immediate. Brook's text influenced directors, playwrights, critics, and institutions across London, Paris, New York City, Berlin, and Tokyo, shaping debates in postwar Royal Shakespeare Company, Comédie-Française, Gielgud Theatre, Aldwych Theatre, and Schiller Theater contexts. The work intersected with contemporaneous movements associated with figures like Jerzy Grotowski, Antonin Artaud, Bertolt Brecht, Konstantin Stanislavski, and Samuel Beckett.

Overview and Themes

Brook organizes his argument around four theatrical modalities and argues for a renewal of stage practice aligned with presence, risk, and simplicity. He contrasts what he calls the "Deadly" theatre with experiments by Peter Handke, Eugène Ionesco, Marguerite Duras, Harold Pinter, and Samuel Beckett, while invoking the "Holy" theatre in relation to rituals described by Mircea Eliade, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and practitioners such as Jerzy Grotowski and Vsevolod Meyerhold. The "Rough" theatre connects to popular entertainments associated with Commedia dell'arte, Punch and Judy, Kabuki, Noh, Kathakali and companies like The Royal National Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. The "Immediate" theatre emphasizes spontaneous interaction reminiscent of practices by Antonin Artaud, Grotowski Laboratory Theatre, Peter Brook's International Centre for Theatre Research, Living Theatre, and directors like Oskar Eustis and Ariane Mnouchkine.

Background and Composition

Brook wrote the book after directing productions at Royal Shakespeare Company, Sheffield Playhouse, and projects in Paris and Bamako, reflecting on stagings of A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear, and experimental pieces that involved collaborations with artists such as Jean Genet, Samuel Beckett, T. S. Eliot interpreters, and designers influenced by Edward Gordon Craig, J. M. Synge, and Adolphe Appia. The prose interweaves anecdotes about productions in venues like Old Vic, Stratford-upon-Avon, Piccadilly Theatre, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, and encounters with institutions including British Council, BBC, Garrick Club, and festivals such as Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Avignon Festival, Festival d'Automne, and Lincoln Center Festival.

Productions and Performance History

Brook's own stagings and tours exemplified the principles articulated in the book; notable productions connected to the text include his versions of Marat/Sade, Mahabharata, The Cherry Orchard, and A Midsummer Night's Dream performed at venues like Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Piccadilly Theatre, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Apollo Theatre, and Garrick Theatre. Companies and practitioners influenced by Brook's ideas include Royal Shakespeare Company, Comédie-Française, Schaubühne, Brooklyn Academy of Music, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Teatro alla Scala, BAM, and ensembles led by Jerzy Grotowski, Ariane Mnouchkine, Peter Sellars, and Richard Schechner. Tours brought his work to festivals such as Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Avignon Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and venues in New York City, Los Angeles, Moscow Art Theatre, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, and Seoul National Theater.

Critical Reception and Influence

The book provoked responses from critics, directors, and scholars in debates across publications like The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, The Times Literary Supplement, and journals associated with Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Routledge. Reactions ranged from praise by proponents of minimalism and improvisation connected to Jerzy Grotowski and Richard Schechner to critique from advocates of text-centered traditions associated with Stanislavski School, Peter Hall, Trevor Nunn, and institutions like the Royal National Theatre. Brook's categorization informed curricular developments at Juilliard School, Yale School of Drama, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and influenced practitioners in movements represented by Living Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Complicité, and Societas Raffaello Sanzio.

Adaptations and Interpretations

The book inspired staged essays, lectures, and programs by figures such as Peter Brook himself, Ariane Mnouchkine, Ellen Stewart, Julio César Chávez, Jerzy Grotowski, Tadeusz Kantor, and companies including La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Royal Court Theatre, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Teatro La Fenice, and Festival d'Avignon. Its concepts were adapted into workshops, training methods, and multimedia projects at institutions like Theatre du Soleil, Brooklyn Academy of Music, National Theatre of Korea, Hangul Arts Center, and conservatories such as Curtis Institute of Music and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. The influence extended into film and opera contexts through collaborations involving Peter Brook and artists from Opéra Garnier, Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Bolshoi Theatre, and directors like Theodoros Terzopoulos.

Category:1968 books Category:Books about theatre