Jerzy Grotowski

Birth:11th August 1933 Death:14th January 1999 

Jerzy Grotowski was a Polish theatre director and innovator of "experimental theatre". He was influential in his ability to rethink what theatre actually represented as an art form and its purpose in contemporary culture. One of his most centred ideas was the notion of the "poor theatre". By this he meant, a "theatre which the fundamental concern is the work of the actor with the audience, not the sets, costumes, lighting or special effects". His belief was that these "trappings" were unnecessary to the central core and meaning that theatre should generate. 
By "poor" Grotowski meant, the stripping away of all that was unnecessary whilst leaving a "stripped" and vulnerable actor. In order to shape and expand his idea, he would work with all black sets and actors in plain black rehearsal costume. He made his actors embark on rigorous training exercises in order for them to have full control over their bodies. Through his concept of "poor theatre", Grotowski realised that theatre could exist without makeup, costume or sceneography. Grotowski believed in the sacredness of the actor. When the performer entered the "sanctity" of the performance space, a special event occurred through his/her performance.

Grotowski's extensive training regimes.
This clip exemplifies the extensive training exercises Grotowski would have his actors embark on in order to push the body to its physical limit. Grotowski attempted to centre/concentrate both body and mind in order to be both physically and mentally ready for performance which inevitably was needed for enhanced brain/body power and full concentration during the extensive exercises carried out in order to retain fluidity and flexibility in performance. The clip also shows how the body itself can be changed and altered in order to replicate the movements of elements such as "air", "water" and "earth", which Grotowski regularly challenged and adapted in order to be creative in his ideas and basis for performance.