The British Grotowski project - a re-evaluation.

Project start date: 2006-09

Project end date: 2009-09

Polish director Jerzy Grotowski's contribution to world theatre is widely acknowledged. He has a central position in Britain in theatre studies and a still vital influence on theatre-making, especially devising and actor training in what is loosely termed Physical Theatre. However, teachers, students, academics and practitioners interested in this work both theoretically and practically, struggle with a lack of precise knowledge and access to primary sources, key texts, and good translations of his main treatises, as well as clearly articulated and accessible documents of and reflections on his practices. There is also no systematic analysis of his influence on British theatre-making and university drama studies since 1965 and his initial work with Peter Brook at the RSC. This project will address these knowledge gaps through creating: - a Critical Edition with an accompanying DVD of images, film and audio extracts; - online materials that will reveal the range of influences Grotowski has had on artists, teachers, and producers in Britain, whilst providing access to and information about useful Grotowski-related resources; - a multi-modal international conference for practitioners and academics in 2009, the 'Year of Grotowski'. Through generating and disseminating materials in this range of modes and through a focussed studentship on Grotowski's legacy in Britain, the project will thus evaluate and clarify the nature of Grotowski's ongoing contribution to theatre studies and performance in Britain today, and his role in the development of Physical Theatre in Britain, both direct and indirect. Through revisiting and interrogating again Grotowski's life-work and legacy, the project will attempt to address two broad areas: the role of craft in acting and theatre-making, as well as what 'theatre's essence' is (Eugenio Barba, TDR, Fall 2002). Both were central concerns that preoccupied Grotowski throughout his working life and that, with the current shift to performance, we need to continually ask of the theatre.