Jerzy Grotowski
(1933 to 1999)
Poor Theatre
Grotowski is unique. Why? Because no one else in the world, to my knowledge,
no one since Stanislavski,has investigated the nature of acting, its phenomenon, its meaning, the
nature and science of its mental, physical, emotional process as
deeply and completely as Grotowski.
Peter Brook”s introduction to Grotowski’s book “Towards Poor Theatre”
Grotowski set out to ask one question only: What is theatre? In his serarch for an answer he found that while theatre
could exist without make-up, costume, décor, a stage, lighting, sound effects, it could not exist without the relationship
of actor and spectator. This essential act, this encounter between two groups of people, he called “Poor Theatre”.
He was committed to experimentation and in 1965 he established the Laboratory Theatre in Wroclaw. This officially
became an Institute for Theatre Research with each production becoming a working model of current research.
For Grotowski, the actor is a high priest who creates the dramatic liturgy and, at the same time, guides the
audience into the experience. Here, then, is a new element in the theatre: a psychological tension between
actor and audience. The purpose of theatre, indeed, of all art, is “to cross our frontiers, exceed our
limitations, fill our emptiness – fulfil ourselves”. To this end the actor must learn to us his role as if it were
a surgeon’s scalpel to dissect himself. “The important thing is to use the role as a trampoline, an instrument
with which to study what is hidden behind our day mask – the innermost core of personality – in order to
sacrifice it, expose it.” The spectator, says Grotowski, understand, consciously or unconsciously, that such
an act is an invitation to him to do the same thing. This often arouses opposition or indignation because our
daily efforts are intended to hide the truth about ourselves not only from the world but from ourselves.
Grotowski is not concerned with taking the spectator out of himself, in the escapist manner of the
naturalistic or romantic theatre, but with taking him deeply into himself. His concern is with the spectator
who has genuine spiritual needs and who really wishes, through confrontation with the performance, to
analyse himself.
It is his preoccupation with the role of the spectator in theatre that has led him to explore the nature of
scenic space, creating a form of staging for each production that would test different aspects of the
relationship between actor and spectator. In Kordian the action was set in a psychiatric ward. The entire
space was filled up with beds so that the spectators found themselves having to sit among the sick. In
Dr.Faustus the spectators found that they were, along with the actors, guests at Dr. Faustus’s table in the
monk’s refectory. In Akropolis (a classic Polish play in which statues and paintings in a cathedral come to
life and re-enact various biblical and Homeric themes), Grotowski moved the action to Auschwitz in order
to test how far the classical idea of human dignity can withstand our latest insight into human degradation.
The production was set on a large rectangular stage set in the centre of the audience.
Grotowski’s actors so not use furniture and props naturalistically, but with the imaginative spontaneity of a
child and the sophistication of a disciplined artist. For them the floor becomes the sea, a table becomes a
boat, the bars of a chair become a prison cell not to extend the narrative but as part of an interior drama. For
Grotowski is concerned to expose the spiritual process of the actor.
Techniques
Grotowski placed great stress upon discipline, technique and training. He believed that acting was not just a job, but a way
of life. He demanded that actors give themselves completely to their work and believed that the true nature of acting is in the
search for self-knowledge; actors need to fulfil their true potential as human beings. His training was designed to give the
actor great physical and vocal skills, and to teach them to break free from the limitations they placed on themselves. (notes
from: Experimental Theatre from Stanilavski to Peter Brook by James Roose – Evans pub:Routledge and Kegan Paul ‘86
2.
"We do not want to teach the actor a predetermined set of skills or give him a 'bag of
tricks'...everything is concentrated on the 'ripening' of the actor...by a complete stripping down, by
the laying bare of one's own identity.... The actor makes a total gift of himself. This is a technique
of the 'trance' and of the integration of all the actor's psychic and bodily powers which emerge
from the most intimate layers of his body and his instinct." Grotowski (Poor Theatre)
Evoking Silence
Actors had to remain in total silence for several minutes, with no outside noises
to ultimately experience internal silence. This he called creative passivity. By evoking silence, they could
concentrate intensely. His actors also trained in silence except when sounds or speech were essential parts
of the activities.
Physical Training
This is the basis of Grotowski’s training. His actors had to learn extraordinary
physical skills, which allowed them to control every move they made, even the smallest, in every detail.
His actors were required to turn their faces into twisted, frozen masks by using their facial muscles and
often contort their bodies into strange, non-human shapes, or imitate the movements of animals.
Voice
Grotowski believed that actors must have well developed vocal and respiratory
systems and use total respiration, breathing properly through the lungs, diaphragm, ribs and head in the
correct order. As well as controlling their breathing, the actors also had to learn to focus their voices as
though they were coming from different parts of their bodies and project them to different parts of the
room. They had to develop full registers from high to very deep and improve their diction, so that they
could speak with great clarity in a number of different ways, including singing, chanting and reciting
poetry. The actors were also required to imitate all the sounds in the world around them, including
machines, birds, animals, thunder and dripping water.
Contact
Grotowski believed that real harmony in human relationships, on and off the
stage, only developed when people really learned to look at each other and listen to each other. He was
asking for the development of a real awareness of others, a real sensitivity to them in everyday contact and
also to be more aware of the impact they had on other people. In all our contacts with other people, we can
concentrate on really looking and listening, on being completely aware of them, and then responding to
what we are actually seeing and hearing.
Transformation
In his Poor Theatre, Grotowski aimed always for the simplest, possible use of
staging, lighting, costumes and special effects. It was then up to the actor to use all their skills to transform
empty spaces and simple objects into a whole range of imaginative worlds. Simple items like a chair or a
piece of cloth could be transformed a dozen times during the course of a play, representing real objects like
an executioner’s block, or being used as symbols, such as a piece of white cloth for purity. In Akropolis, the
costumes for the prisoners in the concentration camp were simply old bags with holes torn in them. The
insides of the bags were lined with red material which looked like torn flesh.
Memory
Like Stanislavski, Grotowski emphasized the use of emotion memory to recall
an experience and recreate the feeling that went with that memory. But he demanded total honesty and
commitment; they had to be prepared to make use of all memories, no matter how painful.
Truth
Grotowski demanded total commitment and belief in every activity, even the
simplest exercise. He expected the actors to carry that kind of belief and commitment with them at all
times. They were expected to look for the real truth in their daily lives and relationships, and act completely
honestly according to that truth. (notes from: Living Drama 2nd Ed. By Bruce Burton. Pub.Longman Cheshire 1991)