What is Theatre’s Job?

Rebecca Coleman recently posted in her theatre blog, “The Art of the Biz”, a short article on “Entertainment versus Provocation: What is Theatre’s Job?” What a great topic to stir up conversation. There is a lot of religion around this and it is certainly worthwhile to debate at every stage in an artist’s career. I [...]

Theatre as an Encounter

STEPHEN ATKINS [Vancouver] Grotowski believed that the text itself did not have objective value. The strength of a great work lies in its catalytic effect, on all elements of the performance including space, spectators and performers. The words themselves do have an importance, Grotowski refers to classical texts as “a message we receive from [...]

Grotowski’s Holy Theatre

STEPHEN ATKINS [Vancouver] There is quite a lot of discussion of the Holy Theatre in “The Theatre’s New Testament”. Grotowski makes a distinction between the Courtesan Performer, whose body is for display, and the holy actor who sacrifices (burns away) the body, eliminating anything between the audience member and the raw impulse. The Holy [...]

New Testament of the Theatre

The second chapter of Grotowski’s “Towards a Poor Theatre” discusses a process of paring the form down to an absolute, defined, essential craft. The rigorous subtraction ideally strips away all cultural and personal/psychological information in search of a gestural form that transcends language and enters the “space” of mythic expression. It is a form [...]

IUGTE Biomechanics Workshop

According to the web site, the International University of Global Theatre Experience (IUGTE) was established with the purpose of exploring the bridge between world theatre traditions and contemporary performing arts. Among its mandates are; developing international programs, promoting multicultural dialogue, supporting the freedom of creative expression and tolerance through acquaintance with the diversity of [...]

Jerzy Grotowski: Towards a Poor Theatre

Jerzy Grotowski’s “The Towards a Poor Theatre”.

STEPHEN ATKINS [Vancouver] In this first chapter of the book, Grotowski explains the concept of the Poor Theatre. His studio is a laboratory which aims to study the essential elements of theatre. His work is a process of reduction, moving away from eclecticism and a “total theatre” of [...]