Alfred Jarry [1873 – 1907]
FRENCH Pioneering work in the field of absurdist literature …Ubu Roi 1896
Forerunner to the Surrealist theatre of the 1920s and 1930s
Anti art establishment
Constantine Stanislavski [1863 – 1938] RUSSIAN
Stanislavski's work was as important to the development of social realism in the Russia as it was to
that of psychological realism in the United States
Vsevolod Myerhold [1874 – 1940]
RUSSIAN – part of the Russian constructionists – developed Biomechanics – influenced Brecht’s
work…
Erwin Piscator [1893 – 1966] GERMAN
Political dramatist…worked along side Brecht
Jacques Copeau [1879 – 1949]
FRENCH theatre critic, actor and director – opened his own theatre
He eventually organized a theatre school attached to his theatre and thus influenced the
development of theatre through the training of the actor.
He believed that French theatre had fallen prey to the artificiality that he considered an obstacle to
real artistic creation.
Bertolt Brecht [1898 – 1956] GERMAN
Edward Gordon Craig [1872 – 1966] ENGLISH
Craig asserted that the director was "the true artist of the theatre" and, controversially, suggested
viewing actors as no more important than marionettes. He designed and built elaborately symbolic
sets; for instance, a set composed of his patented movable screens for the Moscow Art Theatre of
Hamlet. .
Antoine Artaud [1896 – 1948] FRENCH
Andre Breton [1896 – 1966] FRENCH
Lee Strasberg [1901 – 1982] The Actors Centre AMERICAN
Stella Alder [1901 - 1992] Group Theatre AMERICAN
Viola Spolin [1906 – 1994] AMERICAN
She created directorial techniques to help actors to be focused in the present moment and to find
choices through improvisation, as if in real life…
Samuel Beckett [1906 – 1989] IRISH Existentialist…who sought to reveal
human preoccupation of searching for meaning in an alien and meaningless world…because we
are all subject to death.
Eugène Ionesco [1909 – 1994]
ROMANIAN and FRENCH playwright and dramatist …one of the foremost playwrights of the
theatre of the absurd … that depicted the solitude and insignificance of human existence…and that
our only response was to find it liberating…funny
The Living Theatre -Julian Beck & Judith Malina [1947] AMERICAN
The Living Theatre pioneered the unconventional staging of theatre pieces
In the mid-1960s, the company began a new life as a nomadic touring ensemble
In the 1970s …a cycle of plays for non-traditional venues…the prisons of Brazil
The 1980′s saw the group return to the theater, where they developed new participatory techniques
that enable the audience to first rehearse with the company and then join them on stage as fellow
performers.
Joan Littlewood [1914 – 2002] ENGLISH
Trained at RADA…dissatisfied…developed the left-wing Theatre Workshop…inviting people that
were walking past to join in.
Jacques Lecoq [1921 – 1999] FRENCH
Most famous for his methods on physical theatre, movement and mime that he taught at the school
he founded in Paris The International School of Theatre Jacques Lecoq
Heiner Müller [1929 – 1995] GERMAN
His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" were/are a major influence postmodern drama and
postdramatic theatre.
Peter Brook [1925 - ] ENGLISH
Jerzy Grotowski [1933 – 1999] POLISH
Via-negativa
Augusto Boal [1931 – 2009]
BRAZILIAN theatre director, writer and politician. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed
- a theatrical form originally used in radical popular education movements to discuss and express
issues concerning citizenship, culture and various forms of oppression using theatrical language.
Wole Soyinka [1934 - ] NIGERIAN – Playwright and Poet
Political and social dramatist - work with local communities in analyzing their problems and to
express some of their grievances in dramatic sketches - used many established myths.
Caryl Churchill [1938 - ] ENGLISH
Improvisational writing – social and political themes – interrogation of gender stereotypes
Ariane Mnouchkine [1939 - ]
FRENCH stage director - founded the Parisian avant-garde theater ensemble Théâtre du Soleil in
1964, which still continues to create social and political critiques of local and world cultures.
Richard Forman [1937 - ]
American playwright and avant-garde theater pioneer. He is the founder of the OntologicalHysteric Theater - seeks to produce works that balance a minimal style with extremely complex
and theatrical themes
JoAnne Akalaitis [1937 - ] Mabou Mines Theatre Company - AMERICAN
Theatre Director and writer…
Steven Berkoff [1937 - ] ENGLISH
Berkoff employs a style of heightened physical theatre known as "total theatre”…this kind of
theatre is so powerful, so visceral, that it forces audiences to react: either they flee the building or
they are convinced that it is the best thing they have ever seen…
Tadashi Suzuki [1939 - ] JAPANESE
Creator of the Suzuki Method of Actor Training…which connected the traditions of Japanese
theatre training [Noh theatre] with those of the “West” – Shakespeare
Robert Wilson [1941 - ] AMERICAN
Theatre Artist - he has worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video artist, and
sound and lighting designer – he is concerned with the languages of theatre…
Pina Bausch [1940 – 2009] GERMAN – Tanztheatre
Sam Shepard [1943 - ] AMERICAN
Writer and performer…explored what was meant by identity and belonging – the American myth…
Meredith Monk [1942 - ] AMERICAN
Monk created multi-disciplinary works, which combined music, theatre, and dance – kinda like the
American Pina Bausch.
Howard Barker [1946 - ] ENGLISH
Theatre of Catastrophe: The achievement of Barker's work has been its exemplification of the
obligation of choice or refusal for the audience and performers alike. This works by throwing their
sense of experience into flux. Through drama which pursues to the boundaries of the tolerable and
explodes them. The relentless refusal of the expected, and the excess of transforming experiences
is the essence of dramatic experience, involving the bewilderment of the audience in the face of
persistent dislocation. The sense of having witnessed too much is crucial. It leads not to
drunkenness or a reeling exhaustion but a roaring sense of possibility and a rinsing out of
accumulated expectations.
Elizabeth LeCompte [1944 - ] AMERICAN
The Wooster Group – performances involved exploring the relationship between text, technology
and the body…”I bring things together”
Laurie Anderson [1947 - ] AMERICAN
ART and Theatre - experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and
keyboards and sings experimental music and rock…initially trained as a sculptor. The “concertfilm” Home of the Brave.
Anne Bogart [1951 - ] AMERICAN
Bogart developed a version of improvisational, ensemble-building technique called Viewpoints,
based on the choreographer Mary Overlie's Six View Points of dance…coupled with the intense
physical acting training developed by Tadashi Suzuki
Robert Lepage [1957 - ] CANADIAN
Film and theatre director…Lepage founded Ex Machina [Theatre Company] in 1994, a
multidisciplinary production company – known for it visual design-led productions.
Sarah Kane [1971 – 1999] ENGLISH
Playwright whose work is characterised by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of
theatrical form and, in her earlier work, the use of extreme and violent stage action…post
dramatic…
1. Constantine Stanislavski
2. Bertolt Brecht
3. Antoine Artuad Jerzy Grotowski
4. Heiner Müller Peter Brook Ariane Mnouchkine Robert Wilson Pina Bausch
Elizabeth LeCompte Howard Barker Sarah Kane Laurie Anderson Meredith Monk