The Open Door
Thoughts on Acting and Theatre
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · Print & ebook · January 4, 2005
From King Lear to the Tragedy of Carmen, from Marat/Sade to the epic Mahabharata, Peter Brook has reinvented modern theatre, not once but again and again.
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- Who it’s for
- Peter Brook explores theatre’s paradoxes through lucid reflections and anecdotes from a long directing career.
- Themes
- Theatre philosophy, Acting and preparation, Onstage and backstage
- Genres
- Director Studies, Theater Production & Direction, Theater History & Criticism
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From King Lear to the Tragedy of Carmen, from Marat/Sade to the epic Mahabharata, Peter Brook has reinvented modern theatre, not once but again and again. In The Open Door the visionary director and theorist offers a lucid, comprehensive exposition of the philosophy that underlies his work. It is a philosophy of paradoxes: We come to the theatre to find life, but that life must be different from the life we find outside.
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Actors have to prepare painstakingly yet be willing to sacrifice the results of their preparation. The director’s most reliable tool may be his capacity to be bored. Brook illustrates these principles with anecdotes that span his entire career and that demonstrate his familiarity with Shakespeare, Chekhov, and the indigenous theatres of India and Iran. The result is an unparalleled look at what happens both onstage and behind the scenes, fresh in its insights and elegant in its prose.
Theatre’s Paradoxes
Peter Brook explores theatre’s paradoxes through lucid reflections and anecdotes from a long directing career.
Come here for
- The tension between painstaking preparation and letting go
- Ideas about what theatre can make possible
Expect
- Anecdotes spanning Shakespeare, Chekhov, and theatres of India and Iran
- A view of the stage and the work behind it
Where it sits
| Theater History & Criticism | 81% |
|---|---|
| Theater Production & Direction | 46% |
| Director Studies | 44% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Theater
- Theater Production & Direction
- Director Studies
- Authors
- Peter Brook
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Published
- January 4, 2005
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Theatre philosophy · Acting and preparation · Onstage and backstage
- Reading lane
- Theater