Jerzy Grotowski

Jerzy Grotowski was born on the 11th August 1933 and died on the 14th January 1999. He was born in south Poland. He was a theatre director who concentrated on his own form of experimental theatre. Much of his work was influenced by religious writings like the bible and the koran. He created a theatre company called 'the theatre lab'. He wanted to create the 'holy actor'.

He wanted his actors really physically fit so they would be able to do anything. He often went on long runs with his company in order to tire them out as well as build up fitness. He wanted them tired because when you are tired you tend to be more emotionally vulnerable  This would mean his actors were emotionally available all the time. We did an exercise today based on his ideas where we ran around the space in a circle for around 10 minutes. I felt energized after and ready to start work.

He wanted to create 'poor theatre'. This was where the theatre was stripped back of lighting, costume and all those excess props. He felt the most important thing was the relationship between the actors and the audience. He used a concept called 'via negativa'. This is the technique of elimination. It is where you get rid of anything that will stop the actors living in the moment. A way of doing this is prior to rehearsals get the actor to face a wall and spill out everything going on in their mind and in their personal life in a made up language. This aims to allow them to clear their heads and begin work with an open mind, not distracted by the outside world. When an actor achieves this moment it can be known as a moment of self penetration.

Grotowski wasn't well know for many actual performances. The general consensus is that in practice he was better in a rehearsal process then for creating effective pieces of theatre of successful plays.