Jerzy Grotowski
Jerzy Grotowski ( 11 August 1933 – 14 January 1999) was a Polish theatre director and innovator of experimental theatre, the “theatre laboratory” and “poor theatre” concepts.
RESOURCES
BOOKS
Brestoff, R.(1995) The Great Acting Teachers and their Methods, A Smith and Kraus Book, USA.
Grotowski, J. (1965) Towards a Poor Theatre, (Edited Barba,E. in 2002) Routledge, New York
Mitter, S. (1993) Systems of Rehearsal: Stanislavsky, Brecht, Grotowski and Brook, London: Routledge
Richards, T. (1995) At Work with Grotowski on Physical Actions, Routledge, London andNew York:
Schechner R. & Wolford,L.(eds) (2001) The Grotowski Sourcebook, Routledge, New York
Slowiak,J. & Cuesta, J.(2007) Jerzy Grotowksi, Routledge, London and New York
WEBSITES
Institute de Grotowski
Grotowski - TheatreLinks
Poor Theatre Conventions
Grotowski - Actor training - Routledge
FIVE TRUTHS - Hl Solo
BOOKS
Brestoff, R.(1995) The Great Acting Teachers and their Methods, A Smith and Kraus Book, USA.
Grotowski, J. (1965) Towards a Poor Theatre, (Edited Barba,E. in 2002) Routledge, New York
Mitter, S. (1993) Systems of Rehearsal: Stanislavsky, Brecht, Grotowski and Brook, London: Routledge
Richards, T. (1995) At Work with Grotowski on Physical Actions, Routledge, London andNew York:
Schechner R. & Wolford,L.(eds) (2001) The Grotowski Sourcebook, Routledge, New York
Slowiak,J. & Cuesta, J.(2007) Jerzy Grotowksi, Routledge, London and New York
WEBSITES
Institute de Grotowski
Grotowski - TheatreLinks
Poor Theatre Conventions
Grotowski - Actor training - Routledge
FIVE TRUTHS - Hl Solo
Grotoski's Ideas - from Slowiak,J. & Cuesta, J.(2007) Jerzy Grotowksi, Routledge, London and New York
POOR THEATRE
Grotowski asserts that theatre can exist without any accoutrements, needing only the live communion between actor and spectator, and he applies the term to all the practical work
The term most commonly associated with Grotowski’s work during Theatre of Productions is poor theatre. Poor Theatre can best be understood in relation to Rich Theatre. Rich and poor have little to do with economics, but refer instead to the number of other artistic disciplines and elements involved in a theatre production. (Slowiak & Cuesta: 10)
ARCHETYPE/MYTH
When Grotowski began work on a playscript, he first tried to identify and confront the archetype in each text he directed. Archetype, for Grotowski, refers to the basic human situation in the text. Sometimes he referred to it as the myth itself. p45
VIA NEGATIVA
Where the actor’s psychophysical blocks are systematically eradicated through the rigours of physical and vocal training and through creative work on the role. p45
SECURE PARTNER
1. Begin with material that gives the actor a chance to explore his relationship with others.
2. Search for those memories or associations that have conditioned his contact with others.
3. The actor must give himself totally to the search and not play for himself or for the spectator.
4. The search must be directed from within himself to the outside, but not for the outside.
5. When the actor begins to live in relation to the partner from his own biography, he can start to use the other actors as screens for his life’s partner.
6. The final stage is that he discovers the “secure partner.”
KEY THEMES FROM SKARA SPEECH
• Associations
Associations cannot be planned. They are precise memories, which are not only thoughts, but are linked to the body and to the physical reaction of the memory. “It is to perform a concrete act, not a movement such as caressing in general but, for example, stroking a cat. Not an abstract cat but a cat which I have seen, with which I have contact. A cat with a specific name—Napoleon, if you like. And it is this particular cat you now caress. These are associations” (Grotowski 2002:226).
• Impulses
Impulse is one of the most important concepts for the Grotowski actor. He often said that the way to perceive if an actor is working organically or not is to determine if he is working on the level of impulses. Before a small physical action there is an impulse. Therein lies the secret of something very difficult to grasp, because the impulse is a reaction that begins inside the body and which is visible only when it has already become a small action. The impulse is so complex that one cannot say that it is only of the corporeal domain.
Grotowski says that without impulse an action tends to stay on the level of gesture. The impulse is born inside the body, precedes the action, and pushes from the inside toward the periphery of the body, to become visible in the action. He told Thomas Richards that “impulses are the morphemes of acting ... And the basic beats of acting are impulses prolonged into actions” (Richards 1995:95). Grotowski also believed that training the impulses, even more than the physical actions, allows everything the actor does to become more rooted in the body.
• Score
For Grotowski, a score—“clearly defined text and action”—is absolutely necessary for anything else to happen on stage. In performance, one should never look for spontaneity without a score. It is impossible. The score is your foundation as an actor. However, the score should not be confused with that sterile word so often heard in theatre—blocking. A score involves much more than just movement, it consists primarily of fixing the moments of contact between you and your partner(s).
• Contact
Contact is one of the most essential elements of the actor’s craft. Contact should not be understood merely as eye contact or staring fixedly at your partner. Contact is to really see. If you really see and listen to your partner, there is a natural adaptation which occurs. You must adjust what you are doing because today, even though you and your partner are following the same score of actions, there will always be slight differences. True improvisation happens on this level of seeing, listening, and adjusting—to be present and alive on stage is to be in contact and this contact results in harmony between you and your partner. You are both together in the same moment—seeing, listening, and responding.
• Cliché
In “Skara Speech,” Grotowski warns actors against playing clichés—taking the “easy road of associations.” For example, if you always say “What a beautiful day!” with a happy tone and “Today I’m a little sad,” with a sad tone, you are simply illustrating the words and not revealing the complexity of the human being behind the commonplace words. The playwright’s words should never be illustrated. Perhaps the spectator is more content with these “beautiful lies,” but the actor should not work to
• Sign
Grotowski’s work with actors during the Theatre of Productions phase of his research was based on the construction of signs. A sign “is a human reaction, purified of all fragments, of all other details which are not of paramount importance. The sign is the clear impulse, the pure impulse. The actions of the actors are for us signs” (Grotowski 2002:234). p49
Grotowski asserts that theatre can exist without any accoutrements, needing only the live communion between actor and spectator, and he applies the term to all the practical work
The term most commonly associated with Grotowski’s work during Theatre of Productions is poor theatre. Poor Theatre can best be understood in relation to Rich Theatre. Rich and poor have little to do with economics, but refer instead to the number of other artistic disciplines and elements involved in a theatre production. (Slowiak & Cuesta: 10)
ARCHETYPE/MYTH
When Grotowski began work on a playscript, he first tried to identify and confront the archetype in each text he directed. Archetype, for Grotowski, refers to the basic human situation in the text. Sometimes he referred to it as the myth itself. p45
VIA NEGATIVA
Where the actor’s psychophysical blocks are systematically eradicated through the rigours of physical and vocal training and through creative work on the role. p45
SECURE PARTNER
1. Begin with material that gives the actor a chance to explore his relationship with others.
2. Search for those memories or associations that have conditioned his contact with others.
3. The actor must give himself totally to the search and not play for himself or for the spectator.
4. The search must be directed from within himself to the outside, but not for the outside.
5. When the actor begins to live in relation to the partner from his own biography, he can start to use the other actors as screens for his life’s partner.
6. The final stage is that he discovers the “secure partner.”
KEY THEMES FROM SKARA SPEECH
• Associations
Associations cannot be planned. They are precise memories, which are not only thoughts, but are linked to the body and to the physical reaction of the memory. “It is to perform a concrete act, not a movement such as caressing in general but, for example, stroking a cat. Not an abstract cat but a cat which I have seen, with which I have contact. A cat with a specific name—Napoleon, if you like. And it is this particular cat you now caress. These are associations” (Grotowski 2002:226).
• Impulses
Impulse is one of the most important concepts for the Grotowski actor. He often said that the way to perceive if an actor is working organically or not is to determine if he is working on the level of impulses. Before a small physical action there is an impulse. Therein lies the secret of something very difficult to grasp, because the impulse is a reaction that begins inside the body and which is visible only when it has already become a small action. The impulse is so complex that one cannot say that it is only of the corporeal domain.
Grotowski says that without impulse an action tends to stay on the level of gesture. The impulse is born inside the body, precedes the action, and pushes from the inside toward the periphery of the body, to become visible in the action. He told Thomas Richards that “impulses are the morphemes of acting ... And the basic beats of acting are impulses prolonged into actions” (Richards 1995:95). Grotowski also believed that training the impulses, even more than the physical actions, allows everything the actor does to become more rooted in the body.
• Score
For Grotowski, a score—“clearly defined text and action”—is absolutely necessary for anything else to happen on stage. In performance, one should never look for spontaneity without a score. It is impossible. The score is your foundation as an actor. However, the score should not be confused with that sterile word so often heard in theatre—blocking. A score involves much more than just movement, it consists primarily of fixing the moments of contact between you and your partner(s).
• Contact
Contact is one of the most essential elements of the actor’s craft. Contact should not be understood merely as eye contact or staring fixedly at your partner. Contact is to really see. If you really see and listen to your partner, there is a natural adaptation which occurs. You must adjust what you are doing because today, even though you and your partner are following the same score of actions, there will always be slight differences. True improvisation happens on this level of seeing, listening, and adjusting—to be present and alive on stage is to be in contact and this contact results in harmony between you and your partner. You are both together in the same moment—seeing, listening, and responding.
• Cliché
In “Skara Speech,” Grotowski warns actors against playing clichés—taking the “easy road of associations.” For example, if you always say “What a beautiful day!” with a happy tone and “Today I’m a little sad,” with a sad tone, you are simply illustrating the words and not revealing the complexity of the human being behind the commonplace words. The playwright’s words should never be illustrated. Perhaps the spectator is more content with these “beautiful lies,” but the actor should not work to
• Sign
Grotowski’s work with actors during the Theatre of Productions phase of his research was based on the construction of signs. A sign “is a human reaction, purified of all fragments, of all other details which are not of paramount importance. The sign is the clear impulse, the pure impulse. The actions of the actors are for us signs” (Grotowski 2002:234). p49