Home > Jerzy Grotowski

Grotowski was born in Rzeszów in Poland and lived until the age of six in Przemysl. During World War II, the family was separated: his mother moved with him to the small village of Nienadówka, while his father served as an officer in the Polish Army and was later stationed in England.

In 1955 Grotowski graduated from the High Theatrical School in Cracow with a degree in acting. Soon after the graduation he went on to Moscow to study directing at the Lunacharsky Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS). During his stay in Moscow, until 1956 he learned about new trends in theatre pioneered by leading Russian figures:

After the return to Poland Grotowski expanded his studies to directing at the same theatrical school as before (1956-1960). During that period of time he moved to Opole where he took over the post of the director in a local theatre.

In 1965 he moved to Wroclaw where established and led a theatrical company - Laboratorium - which was in itself very innovative but under overwhelming influence of Grotowski's personality.

Grotowski revolutionarized theatre, and along with his pupil, Eugenio Barba , leader and founder of Odin Teatret , is considered father of contemporary theatre .

Work in Laboratorium produced Grotowski Technique, a method of education and training for actors. It consisted of many exercises that emphasized control of body and voice.

He was the author of Towards a Poor Theatre ( 1968), which declared that theatre should not, because it could not, compete against the overwhelming spectacle of filmFor other uses see film (disambiguation Film — also called movies the cinema the silver screen moving pictures motion pictures photoplays picture shows and flicks — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of the entertainment and should instead focus on the very root of the act of theatre: actors in front of spectators.

1 The Notion of a 'Poor' Theatre

Grotowski was a revolutionary in theatre because he caused a rethink of what theatre actually was and its purpose in contemporary culture. One of his central ideas was the notion of the 'poor' theatre. By this he meant a theatre in which the fundamental concern was the work of the actor with the audienceAn audience is the/a group of people who participate in and experience or encounter a work of art, literature, theatre, music or academics in any medium. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art, with some kinds inviting ov, not the sets, costumes , lightingLighting refers to the devices or techniques used for illumination, usually referring to artificial light sources such as lamps or flashlights. Natural indoor lighting is by windows and skylights. Artificial indoor lighting is by means of lamps, today usu or special effects. In his view these were just trappings and, while they may enhance the experience of theatre, were unnecessary to the central core the meaning that theatre should generate. 'Poor' meant the stripping away of all that was unnecessary and leaving a 'stripped' and vulnerable actor. Applying this principle in his 'laboratory' in Poland, Grotowski jettisoned all costume and staging and preferred to work with all black sets and actors in plain black rehearsal costumes, at least in the rehearsal process. He made the actors go through rigorous exercises so that they had full control over their bodies. What was important to Grotowski was what the actor could do with his or her body and voice without aids and with only the viseral experience with the audience. In this sense he overturned the traditions of exotic costumes and stunning staging that had driven much European theatre from the 19th centuryAlternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical ( 18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801- 1900. Events The Little Ice Age ended. This is not to say that in public theatrical performances he completely disregarded lights and sets, but these were secondary and tended to complement the already existing excellence of the actors. Indeed he wrote:

By gradually eliminating whatever proved superfluous, we found that theatre can exist without make-up, without autonomic costume and scenography, without a separate performance area (stage), without lighting and sound effects, etc. It cannot exist without the spectator relationship of perceptual, direct, communion. This is an ancient theoretical truth, of course, but when rigorously tested in practice it undermines most of our usual ideas about theatre. It challenges the notion of theatre as a synthesis of disparate creative discipline; literature, sculpture, painting. architecture, lighting, acting....

(Jerzy Grotowski, Towards a Poor Theatre. Simon & Schuster, 1968, p.19)

To this concept of 'poor theatre' Grotowski (an atheist) added the concept of the 'priesthood' or sacredness of the actorAn actor is a person who acts, or plays a role in an artistic production. The term commonly refers to someone working in movies, television, live theatre, or radio, and can occasionally denote a street entertainer. Besides playing dramatic roles, actors m. When the actor entered the sanctity of the performance space, then a special event occurred, much like the MassMass is a property of physical objects that, roughly speaking, measures the amount of matter they contain. It is a central concept of classical mechanics and related subjects. Strictly speaking, there are two different quantities called mass Inertial mass in the Catholic Church. It was in this space, in the holy relationship between the actor and the audience, that an audience was challenged to think and be transformed by theatre. In this sense, Grotowski was one of the key figures in the development of political theatre in the Twentieth Century. His theatrical productions often contained political and social themes. The actor, depending only on the natural gifts of voice and body, could bring the sacred rituals of theatre and the themes of social transformation to the audience. The audience became pivotal to theatrical performance, and theatre became more than entertainment: it became a pathway to understanding. Grotowski's training regime was devised to

1. Eliminate not teach something (Via Negativa). 2. Enhance that which already exists. 3. Create all that is needed for the play in the actor's body, with little use of props. 4. Promote rigorous physical and vocal training of actors 5. Avoid the beautiful if it does not foster truth

Grotowski always maintained that theatre could never compete with cinema and that cinema offered a different experience to theatre. He wanted to bring a theatre to an audience that was confronting, challenging and experiential. It was a theatre not based so much on image (as in cinema or television) but on the presence of the actor.

Grotowski, as he wrote and published his work, became renowned and received numerous invitations to work in the most prominent drama schools, theatre companies and universities in Europe and America. Most of these he declined, preferring instead to stay with his actors in his small 'laboratory', in relative obscurity.