Master director, teacher, and theorist, Jerzy Grotowski’s work extended well beyond the conventional limits of performance. Now revised and reissued, this book combines: ● an overview of Grotowski’s life and the distinct phases of his work ● an analysis of his key ideas ● a consideration of his role as director of the renowned Polish Laboratory Theatre ● a series of practical exercises offering an introduction to the principles underlying Grotowski’s working methods. As a first step towards critical understanding, and an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today’s student.

"In 1968, Jerzy Grotowski published his groundbreaking Towards a Poor Theatre, a record of the theatrical investigations conducted at his experimental theater in Poland. This classic work on acting and performance is now available once again. In his preface to the original edition, Peter Brook wrote: "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 processes as deeply as Grotowski." More recently, Richard Schechner has called Grotowski "one of the four great directors of Western theater." Jerzy Grotowski was born in Poland in 1933. In 1982 he moved to the United States and worked at the University of California. He later moved to Italy, where he continued his unique and intense theatrical investigation. He died in 1999"--Publisher description.

At work with Grotowski on Physical Actions is a unique resource for actors and students - a compelling account of a decade's work with Jerzy Grotowski, one of the outstanding and most influential figures in twentieth century drama. Grotowski is inheritor of the mantle of Stanislavski; renowned and revered for his radical innovation as a director, and for his seminal manifesto Towards a Poor Theatre . This volume by Thomas Richards, his long-time collaborator, is the first available statement of Grotowski's current working practices and theoretical position.

Articles by Jerzy Grotowski, interviews with him and other supplementary material presenting his method and training.

One of the original members of Jerzy Grotowski’s acting company, Zygmunt Molik’s Voice and Body Work explores the unique development of voice and body exercises throughout his career in actor training. This book, constructed from conversations between Molik and author Giuliano Campo, provides a fascinating insight into the methodology of this practitioner and teacher, and focuses on his ‘Body Alphabet’ system for actors, allowing them to combine both voice and body in their preparatory process.

First published in 1985, this is a reissue of the seminal text on the work of Jerzy Grotowski and Laboratory Theatre recognised as being one of the most influential and important studies of the Polish theatre practitioner. In 1984 Grotowski's Laboratory Theatre closed down after twenty-five years of ceaseless experimentation pushing at the boundaries of the nature of theatre. From tiny beginnings in provincial Poland, Grotowski's influence spread to Eurpoe and the United States, fuelled first by the international tours of his remarkable company and then by 'paratheatrical' participatory projects which attracted adherents all over the world. This study of his work remains one of the most important and thorough examinations of the history, theory, and post-theatre work of this most influential of theatre practitioners.

Heart of Practice is a unique and invaluable insight into the workings of one of theatre’s true pioneers, presented by his closest collaborator. This book charts the development of Grotowski’s dramatic research through a decade of conversations with his apprentice, Thomas Richards. Tuscany’s ‘Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards’ is the enduring legacy of a master teacher, director and theorist, and home to much of Grotowski’s most significant work. Interviewed by leading scholars, and offering his own intimate accounts, Richards gives a vivid and detailed view of the Workcenter’s evolution, providing: concrete illustration of the Workcenter’s distinctive creative practices rigorous discussion of over twenty years of world-renowned research previously unpublished performance photos privileged insight into what Grotowski considered to be the culmination of his life’s work.