Peter Brook

A lot of individuals might find watching movies and theater play amusing as they admire the talent of their favorite actors and actresses. Despite the greatness of the artists, a more important factor that affects how a film or play turns out to be like would highly depend on the artistry and knowledge of its director. A director has the ability to make good actors become better and budding actors act professionally, at the same time, if inexperienced, directors may mislead the actors. The case seemed very different when it came to Director Peter Brook because he has been able to provide tons of innovations to the world of film and theater. He has been able to create and recreate stories that would become the history and influence the future of the entertainment industry. But Brook’s talent did not come in an instant. By taking a tour of his life, people would be able to understand where he is coming from and the ingenuity that evolved through out the years of his life.

Director Peter Brook is a son of Jewish immigrants who lived in London where he was born in March 1925. Growing up, he studied in Gresham’s School and Magdalen College Oxford. As early as 1943, he has already found his way to the world of directing as he began on his first production for Dr. Faustus. This was held in London at the Torch Theater which provided a light to lead his career path. Soon, he moved to Stratford-Upon-Avon in United Kingdom to further enhance his career. In 1947, he was given the task as the assistant director for two productions namely, Romeo and Juliet and Love’s Harbour. Although his promotion to become the director of productions, Brook took each step slowly and managed to take over every responsibility with precision and determination. As a director of productions in the Royal Opera House, his name also became quite controversial for the production of Strauss’ Salome. But, his work for the remake of Puccini’s La Boheme in 1899 has gained him the respect that proliferated his name to the various productions and theaters.

The manner by which Brook concentrated and based his works on were from his earlier influences. His training was highly influenced by the experimental theater of Chris Covics and the works of Jerzy Grotowski, Bertolt Brecht, Stuart Davis, Edward Gordon Craig, and G. I. Gurdhieff. However, the biggest influence in Brook’s life and career were from the works of Joan Littlewood and Antonin Artaud. Brook took into consideration all these influences and always made sure that as a director, he is able to help artists discover new forms of expression and to continuously train his actors and actresses. Because of the techniques that he has promoted, audiences are also being engaged into the film or play they are viewing.

After getting married and having a child, Brook seemed to take his career to the back seat but still managed to create some great works here and these. These projects include The Winter’s Tale in 1952, The Beggar’s Opera in 1953, and Titus Andronicus in 1958. A few years later, Brook once again began to search for ways to make the acting scene livelier and become appreciated by a bigger audience. With this in his brilliant mind, he worked with Micheline Rozan in the International Centre for Theatre Research in the year 1970. They created this multinational organization in order to bring together artists in different fields such as acting, dancing, music, and many more. This group highly concentrated on artists who would commonly travel around the world specifically in the Middle East and in Africa. Today, this organization has found its home in the Bouffes du Nord Theatre in Paris, France. Although Brook has retired from the organization in 2008, his contributions are still highly considered and appreciated.

Some of his most notable works were The Mahabharata, Lord of the Flies, and Tierno Bokar. In every single production that he has been able to create, there are distinctive qualities that have influenced the way audiences see actors on film and on stage and have redefined the ways actors work. In the 1963 film, Lord of the Flies, Brook received countless distinctions as he is able to determine and reflect the defense mechanisms of people when trapped in an island. Despite a few differences from the book and the film, it can truly be said that Brook was able to give justice to this William Golding novel. During the production of The Mahabharata in 1970, Brook worked with writer Jean Claude Carriere to adapt the epic poem on stage. This theatrical presentations garnered recognitions which turned into a hype that increased its demand to become a mini television series. One of the later theater plays that he has directed was Tierno Bokar in 2005 that was adapted from a book by Amadou Hampate Ba. This production was able to enlighten its audiences on the religious life and Muslim traditions in Africa which Columbia University highlighted and made part of its lecture to students.

Peter Brook got a lot of attention both as recognition and as a criticism all through out his career because of his innovative techniques that challenged every rule in theater performances. Even at his old age, Brook still manages to influence the world of acting on film and theater. Retirement seems to be the last thing on his mind as he has said that he plans to keep on working until the end of his own life. But despite his specialty, he is still very willing to hand over to the next generation of directors all his knowledge and theories which also included the International Centre for Theatre Research. He wanted to have a well managed and smooth transition into the new generation. As what he has mentioned during an interview, he would always want to look at the all things with a realistic point of view. Brook always loved the theater and film world and with this, he wants to ensure that its future will be at its brightest.