it was PETER BROOK not BROOKS...I was getting confused with JEFFREY BROOKS etc etc...anyway, BROOK told me that the BROOK family were very like the BROOKS in ALICE IN WONDERLAND...you had to jump over them, in order to continue within this evil computer program/ill cult game...every stage, a nightmare...

The photo doesn't look like the man that we met at all...in NATIONAL THEATRE programs - the guy used to use a youngish photograph of himself with dark hair and eyes...a bit MIKE WEALE/FRANCO ZECCHIN in looks...but maybe with white hair and screwed up eyes...it is still the same guy...odd though, how ten years ago...he was still dyeing his hair black and looked Medditerannean, to say the least...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Brook

Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE (born 21 March 1925) is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.

[edit] Biography[edit] LifeBrook was born in London in March 1925, the son of Simon Brook and his wife Ida (Jansen), two jewish immigrants. He was educated at Gresham's School and Magdalen College, Oxford.

He directed Dr Faustus, his first production, in 1943 at the Torch Theatre in London, followed at the Chanticleer Theatre in 1945 with a revival of The Infernal Machine. In 1947, he went to Stratford-upon-Avon as assistant director on Romeo and Juliet and Love's Labour's Lost. From 1947 to 1950, he was Director of Productions at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. His work there included a highly controversial staging of Strauss’ Salome with sets by Salvador Dali and also an effective re-staging of Puccini’s La Boheme using sets dating from 1899. A proliferation of stage and screen work as producer and director followed.

In 1951, Brook married the actress Natasha Parry; the couple have a daughter.

In 1970, with Micheline Rozan, Brook founded the International Centre for Theatre Research, a multinational company of actors, dancers, musicians and others which travelled widely in the Middle East and Africa in the early 1970s. It is now based in Paris at the Bouffes du Nord theatre.[1] In 2008 he made the decision to resign as artistic director of Bouffes du Nord, handing over to Olivier Mantei and Olivier Poubelle in 2008.[2]

[edit] InfluencesHis work is inspired by the theories of experimental theatre of Jerzy Grotowski,[3] Bertolt Brecht, Chris Covics, Meyerhold, G. I. Gurdjieff[4] and the works of Edward Gordon Craig and Stuart Davis,[citation needed] as well as Matila Ghyka.[5]

Brook was influenced by the work of Antonin Artaud and his ideas for his Theatre of Cruelty. His major influence however was Joan Littlewood. Brook described her as "the most galvanising director in mid-20th century Britain".

In England, Peter Brook and Charles Marowitz undertook The Theatre of Cruelty Season (1964) at the Royal Shakespeare Company, aiming to explore ways in which Artaud's ideas could be used to find new forms of expression and retrain the performer. The result was a showing of 'works in progress' made up of improvisations and sketches, one of which was the premier of Artaud's The Spurt of Blood.

– Lee Jamieson, Antonin Artaud: From Theory to Practice, Greenwich Exchange, 2007
[edit] The MahabharataIn the mid 1970s,[6] Brook, with writer Jean-Claude Carrière, began work on adapting the Indian epic poem the Mahābhārata into a stage play which was first performed in 1985[7] and then later into a televised mini series. The production using an international cast caused heated intercultural debate. Negative criticism came from Indian scholar Pradip Bhattacharya who felt that Brook's interpretation "was not a portrayal of a titanic clash between the forces of good and evil, which is the stuff of the epic... [but] the story of the warring progeny of some rustic landlord".[8]

[edit] Tierno BokarIn 2005 Brook directed Tierno Bokar, based on the life of the Malian sufi of the same name. The play was adapted for the stage by Marie-Helene Estienne from a book by Amadou Hampate Ba (translated into English as A Spirit of Tolerance: The Inspiring Life of Tierno Bokar). The book and play detail Bokar's life and message of religious tolerance. Columbia University produced 44 related events, lectures, and workshops that were attended by over 3,200 people throughout the run of Tierno Bokar. Panel discussions focused on topics of religious tolerance and Muslim tradition in West Africa.[9]

[edit] Work[edit] Major productions for the RSC1950 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 Royal Shakespeare Company, documented in the film Benefit of the Doubt
1970 A Midsummer Night's Dream with John Kane (Puck), Frances de la Tour (Helena), Ben Kingsley (Demetrius) and Patrick Stewart (Snout): see 1970 Royal Shakespeare Company production of A Midsummer Night's Dream
[edit] Other major productionsHamlet with Paul Scofield
The Visit with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne
Marat/Sade, 1964.
Oedipus with John Gielgud and Irene Worth
Orghast in Persepolis, 1971-72.
1975 : The Ik by Colin Turnbull, adaptation Jean-Claude Carrière, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
1977 : Ubu aux Bouffes after Alfred Jarry, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
1978 : Mesure pour mesure by William Shakespeare, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
1979 : La Conférence des oiseaux (The Conference of the Birds) after Farid al-Din Attar, Festival d'Avignon, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
1979 : L'Os de Mor Lam by Birago Diop, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
1981 : La Tragédie de Carmen after Prosper Mérimée, Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, Viviane Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, New York
1981 : La Cerisaie by Anton Chekhov, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
1984 : Tchin-Tchin by François Billetdoux, mise en scène with Maurice Bénichou, with Marcello Mastroianni, Théâtre Montparnasse
1985 : Le Mahabharata, (The Mahabharata) Festival d'Avignon
1988 : The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, Majestic Theatre, Brooklyn
1989 : Woza Albert! by Percy Mtawa, Mbongeni Ngema et Barney Simon
1990 : La Tempête by William Shakespeare, adaptation Jean-Claude Carrière, with Sotigui Kouyaté, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
1992 : Impressions de Pelléas after Claude Debussy, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
1993 : L'Homme Qui after The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
1995 : Qui est là after texts by Antonin Artaud, Bertolt Brecht, Edward Gordon Craig, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Stanislavski and Motokiyo Zeami
1995 : Oh les beaux jours by Samuel Beckett
1998 : Je suis un phénomène after prodigieuse mémoire by Alexander Luria
1998 : Don Giovanni by Mozart, création au 50ème Festival international d'art lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence
1999 : Le Costume by Can Themba
2000 : Hamlet by William Shakespeare, with Adrian Lester
2002 : Far Away by Caryl Churchill
2002 : La Mort de Krishna extrait du Mahabharata de Vyasa, adaptation Jean-Claude Carrière and Marie-Hélène Estienne
2003 : Ta main dans la mienne by Carol Rocamora
2004 : Tierno Bokar after Vie et enseignement de Tierno Bokar-Le sage de Bandiagara by Amadou Hampâté Bâ, with Sotigui Kouyaté
2004 : Le Grand Inquisiteur after The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky
2006 : Sizwe Banzi est mort by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, Festival d'Avignon
2008 : Fragments after Samuel Beckett
2009 : Love is my sin sonnets by William Shakespeare
2009 : 11 and 12 after Vie et enseignement de Tierno Bokar-Le Sage de Bandiagara by Amadou Hampâté Bâ
2010 : Warum warum by Peter Brook et Marie-Hélène Estienne after Antonin Artaud, Edward Gordon Craig, Charles Dullin, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Motokiyo Zeami and William Shakespeare
[edit] Filmography1953, 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 (TV)
[edit] AwardsTony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Marat/Sade, 1966[10]
Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1971
Freiherr von Stein Foundation Shakespeare Award, 1973
Grand Prix Dominique, 1975
Brigadier Prize, 1975, for Timon of Athens
Society of West End Theatre Award, 1983
Emmy Award, 1984, for La tragédie de Carmen
Prix Italia, 1984
International Emmy Award, 1990, for The Mahabharata
Dan David prize, 2005
The Ibsen Award for 2008, first winner of the prize of NOK2.5 mill (approximately £200,000).[11]
Critics' Circle Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts 2008
[edit] HonoursCommander of the Order of the British Empire, 1965
Honorary DLitt, University of Birmingham, 1990
Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, 1991
Honorary DLitt, University of Strathclyde, 1990
Honorary DLitt, University of Oxford, 1994
Officier de l'Ordre de la Légion d'honneur (France), 1995
Companion of Honour, 1998
[edit] BibliographyBrook, Peter (1968). The Empty Space.
Brook, Peter (1988). The Shifting Point. UK: Methuen Drama. ISBN 0-4136-1280-5.
Brook, Peter (1991). Le Diable c'est l'ennui.
Brook, Peter (1993). There Are No Secrets.
Brook, Peter (1995). The Open Door.
Brook, Peter (1998). Threads of Time: Recollections.
Brook, Peter (1999). Evoking Shakespeare.
[edit] References1.^ Chambers, Colin The Continuum Companion To Twentieth Century Theatre (Continuum, 2002, ISBN 0-8264-4959-X) p. 384
2.^ Chrisafis, Angelique (2008-12-17). "Interview: Peter Brook says a long goodbye to his Paris theatre". London: Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/dec/17/peter-brook-bouffes-nord-paris. Retrieved 2008-12-29. }
3.^ Brook, Peter (1968). The Empty Space.
4.^ Nicolescu, Basarab; Williams, David (1997). "Peter Brook and Traditional Thought". Contemporary Theatre Review (Overseas Publishers Association) 7: 11–23. doi:10.1080/10486809708568441. http://www.experimentaltheatre.org/peter_brook.htm.
5.^ Gibbons, Fiachra The prayers of Peter Brook The Guardian, 17 January 2010.
6.^ Morgenstern, Joe (April 17, 1988). "Jean-Claude Pierre; the Mahabharata, the great history of mankind - interview about the stage adaptation". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE1DC143AF934A25757C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
7.^ Carriere, Jean-Claude (September 1989). "Jean-Claude Carriere; the Mahabharata, the great history of mankind - interview about the stage adaptation". UNESCO Courier. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_1989_Sept/ai_8067489. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
8.^ Bhattacharya, Pradip (November 2004). "Negative Criticism". http://www.boloji.com/cinema/028.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
9.^ Columbia University, "Record of Events"
10.^ "Tony Awards". http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search?start=0&year=&award=&lname=Peter+Brook&fname=&show=. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
11.^ "British director wins the Ibsen Prize". Norway.org. http://www.norway.org/culture/literature/ibsen+prize.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-21. [dead link]
Peter Brook, Threads of Time (1998)
Lee Jamieson, Antonin Artaud: From Theory to Practice (Greenwich Exchange: London, 2007) Contains practical exercises on Artaud drawn from Brook's Theatre of Cruelty Season at the RSC. ISBN 978-1-871551-98-3
John Heilpern, Conference of the Birds: The Story of Peter Brook in Africa, Faber Book Services, 1977, ISBN 0571103723
Dale Moffitt, Between Two Silences: Talking with Peter Brook (1999)
Biographies by J. C. Trewin (1971) and A. Hunt and G. Reeves (1995) and Michael Kustow (2005)
Andrew Todd and Jean-Guy Lecat, The Open Circle: Peter Brook's Theatre Environments (2003)
Ouriel Zohar, Meetings with Peter Brook, Zohar, Tel-Aviv 176 p. (1990) (He).
[edit] Further readingTrowbridge, Simon. The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Oxford: Editions Albert Creed, 2010. ISBN 9780955983023.
[edit] External links Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Peter Brook

Peter Brook official website
The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the RSC: Online database by Simon Trowbridge
Dan David Prize laureate 2005
Peter Brook biography and filmography at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
Peter Brook at the Internet Movie Database
Screener for Brook by Brook
Peter Brook profile by Experimental Theatre Organization
Review of Brook's Mahabharata in Caravan Magazine
Master's Degree in Urban Scenography in Barcelona