Theatre and film director, born in London, UK. He studied at Oxford, and his involvement in the theatre began while at university. He directed many classical plays at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, went to Stratford in 1947, and was also director of productions at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (194750). Famous for his innovatory approach, during the 1950s he worked on many productions in Britain, Europe, and the USA, and in 1962 returned to Stratford to join the newly established Royal Shakespeare Company for which he directed, among other productions, King Lear (1962) and Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade (1964), epitomizing Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, in which movement, sound, and rhythm rather than words express the underlying ferocity and ruthlessness of human life. Most of his work in the 1970s was done with the Paris-based Centre for Theatre Research, which he founded and with which he travelled widely in Africa and Asia. Later Paris productions include an adaptation of The Mahabharata (televised in 1989) and The Tempest (1990). Among his films are The Beggar's Opera (1952), Lord of the Flies (1962), and King Lear (1969). His publications include The Shifting Point (1988, autobiography ), Threads of Time (1998, a memoir), and Evoking Shakespeare (1999). He became a Companion of Honour in 1998.
Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH CBE (born 21 March 1925) is a highly influential British theatrical producer and director.
Influences
His work has been inspired by the theories of experimental theatre of Jerzy Grotowski, Bertolt Brecht, Meyerhold, Antonin Artaud, G. Gurdjieff the works of Stuart Davis
Major Productions for the RSC
1962 King Lear 1964 Marat/Sade 1966 US 1971 A Midsummer Night's DreamFilms
1953, 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 HamletHonors
Commander of the British Empire, 1965
Companion of Honour, 1998.
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