The Holly Theatre

It is my belief that Brooks talks about Holy Theatre as a way of getting practitioners, and patrons, to understand that true, Holy Theatre gets at truth. By this I do not mean, necessarily, universal truths, like fire is hot or ice is cold, but truths we hold inside. When we discover these truths, through theatre (and by this I mean doing or experiencing, not merely reading), we have the opportunity to be raised to a new level of understanding, a place, similar to our faith as we discover our spiritual truths, where we cannot really explain our discovery but we know it is real. Theatre, like religion, has had, and will continue to have, its false prophets, proclaiming that we must have or do something in order to please the gods/Gods. Yet, in discovering our truths, our holiness in understanding, we fulfill that journey.

In this chapter the Director Peter Brook defines “The Holy Theatre” as “the Theatre of the Invisible – Made – Visible.” That is, this kind of drama is generally concerned with making things that are invisible to us examples on that: (human consciousness, states of being, dreams, and ghosts) visible through the language and technologies of the theatre. It can be contrasted with the “master current” of realism or naturalism, plays that are concerned with staging social issues. Both tend to provide explorations of the human condition, but holy theatre moves from the “inside out” while social realism goes from the “outside in.” The very best plays, of course, generally have attributes of both currents.

This is what theater and all art making should be addressing- the bringing to light the dark recesses of the human experience; to perform rituals that ask the questions about

Why we are the way we are; how can we change or accept the less damaged aspects of human nature; what does being in community with others mean.Religious teaching - including Zen - asserts that this invisible-visible cannot be seen automatically - it can only be seen given certain conditions. Holy art is an aid to this, and so we arrive at at definition of Holy Theatre. A Holy Theatre not only presents the invisible but also offers conditions that make its perceptions possible, according to Brook.

The strengths of a Holy Theatre are also what limit its appeal – and the desire to answer the truly personal needs of those who are in the process of creating it. This is not the theatre of mass appeal. Brook explains the processes of three artists who are engaged in the creation of holy theatre – such as Merce Cunningham, Jerzy Grotowski and Samuel Beckett. All three are well known in their respected disciplines, but have limited visibility in popular culture. To underscore this, read Brook on the three: "They each start from their hunger, each works to lessen his own need. And yet the very purity of their resolve, the high and serious nature of their activity inevitably brings a color to their choices and a limitation to their field. They are unable to be both esoteric and popular at one and the same time."

In this book Peter Brook also talked more about the artists who were greatly engaged in the creation of the holy theatre as I mentioned earlier, one of the two that really interested me and made me stop at his accomplishments for this type of theatre and how can that apply to my personal thoughts as an actress or if I were a part of an audeicne whathing a play that positively and closely related to this type of creative and challenging theatres..

One of the examples that interested me the most in this chapter is (Jerzy Grotowski)

Who is Jerzy Grotowski?

“Born in August 1933 in Rzeszow, Poland. His Family separated in world war two. His father went to fight in the war and was stationed in England Jerzy with his mother and brother, escaped from the Nazis and went to live with his aunt and uncle on a farm in Krakow where he learned spiritual awakenings from his uncle, a Bishop, which led to his ideas towards the theatre. He then went on to study for a degree in drama at a theatrical school in Krakow And then on to Lunacharsky Institute of Arts, in Moscow from 1955 for a year where he learnt more about the works of various practitioners around the word. He was most influenced by the works of Konstantin Stanislavsky The works of Stanislavsky are well known; he was a spiritualist and passionate about the theatre , believing it was a serious place that required dedication and discipline. He also studied at the same theatre school in Moscow as Grotowski and later formed his own arts theatre. He was socialist and portrayed that in his works. He believed every actor should show real emotion, realism, and believed the idea of going to the theatre the same as if watching real lifelike our modern day soaps. He also studied the works of Yevgeny Vakhatangov who was student of Stanislavski and continued working in that form but was also influenced by Vsevolod Meyehold whose work was hated by Stanislavski because of its contemporary structure using circus style effects and toyed with the ideas of theatrical academism and symbolism.” He then went on to teach drama as a director in Poland at the same theatre school he attended until 1960, teaching his students the art of realism and works of his favorite practitioners. Whilst teaching he put on many different shows, his debut in 1958 ‘Gods of Rain’ He then took over a theatre company called the ‘Theatre of 13 rows’ where he taught his theories to a group of young budding actors and performers. By 1964 Grotowski had put together many successful plays but one particular production ‘The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus’ where he instructed the actors to use every part of their bodies to show all emotions, using actors instead of props, taking a new approach on modern realism .

Peter Brook also have talked and it was mentioned more than once in the book about the term of living theatre..

What’s the living theatre supposed to be about?

Founded in 1947 as an imaginative alternative to the commercial theater by Judith Malina, the German-born student of Erwin Piscator, and Julian Beck, an abstract expressionist painter of the New York School, The Living Theatre has staged nearly a hundred productions performed in eight languages in 28 countries on five continents – a unique body of work that has influenced theater the world over.

“During the 1950′s and early 1960′s in New York, The Living Theatre pioneered the unconventional staging of poetic drama – the plays of American writers like Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Paul Goodman, Kenneth Rexroth and John Ashbery, as well as European writers rarely produced in America, including Cocteau, Lorca, Brecht and Pirandello. Best remembered among these productions, which marked the start of the Off-Broadway movement, were Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights, Tonight We Improvise, Many Loves, The Connection and The Brig.”

“The difficulty of operating a unique, experimental enterprise within a cultural establishment ill-equipped to accept it led to the closing by the authorities of all The Living Theatre’s New York venues: the Cherry Lane Theater (closed by the Fire Department in 1953), The Living Theatre Studio on Broadway at 100th Street (closed by the Buildings Department in 1956), The Living Theatre on 14th Street (closed by the I.R.S. in 1963) and The Living Theatre on Third Street (closed by the Buildings Department in 1993).”

So as how we see we could tell from its conception, The Living Theatre was dedicated to transforming the organization of power within society from a competitive, hierarchical structure to cooperative and communal expression. The troupe attempts to do so by counteracting complacency in the audience through direct spectacle. They oppose the commercial orientation of Broadway productions and have contributed to the off-Broadway theater movement in New York City, staging poetic dramas.

                                                      

                                                              Work cited

1-    "Jerzy Grotowski." Jerzy Grotowski. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.

2-    "History." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.

3-    "Living Theatre Is Dead; Founder Judith Malina, Who Produced Gertrude Stein and Bertolt Brecht, Retires ." NY Daily News. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.