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Conversations with Peter Brook: 1970-2000
A volume of interviews with the director Peter Brook that explores his work and the innovations that helped forge a new kind of theater
Peter Brook is one of the giants of twentieth-century theater, having started as a stage director at the age of twenty before being named the primary director at the Covent Garden opera house and, eventually, becoming the unique creative genius who virtually reinvented the way actors and directors think about theater, through his groundbreaking productions of King Lear , Marat/Sade , A Midsummer Night’s Dream , and, especially, The Mahabharata . Since the creation in the 1970s of his International Center for Theater Research in Paris, he has sought to focus on teaching and researching as well as directing—always looking for new ways to illuminate the truth of a text so that actors and audiences alike are challenged to question both the performance of the piece and the larger truth surrounding it.
Margaret Croyden has followed Peter Brook’s career from 1970 up to the present. As a result, her perspective on the evolution of his work is unparalleled, and she brings to the interview process the acuity of a critic and the knowledgeability of a devoted observer. As she says in her introduction, “The most important aspect of Brook’s character and his artistry is that he is a searcher . . . a questioner, a teacher.” In this book, Brook—with Croyden’s able assistance—shares some of his most insightful thoughts and deepest feelings about the theater and the world.
Margaret Croyden has written for The New York Times , among other publications, and is the author of In the Shadow of the Three Journeys and Lunatics, Lovers, and The Contemporary Experimental Theater . She lives in New York City.
Peter Brook is one of the giants of twentieth-century theater, a uniquely creative genius who, through his groundbreaking productions of King Lear , Marat/Sade , A Midsummer Night's Dream , and especially The Mahabharata , has virtually reinvented the way actors and directors think about theater. Margaret Croyden has followed Peter Brook's career from 1970 to the present, gaining unparalleled perspective on the evolution of his work. Throughout the interviews in this book, she uses that knowledge to elicit from Peter Brook some of his insightful thoughts and deepest feelings about theater and the world.
"Here is the fascinating and provocatively stimulating distillation of three decades of intense, but sometimes gossipy, conversations between one of the 20th century's few true theater innovators and America's leading writer on the theatrical avant-garde. A splendid book. A great read. I loved it."— Clive Barnes
"A success . . . Challenging and fearless in her questions, Croyden also conveys such vivid vignettes of the plays and their often beautiful or striking settings that a pang is evoked for every missed chance to say 'I was there' . . . Croyden's ability to put questions in a fitting way allows Brook to share with her some astonishingly authentic impressions and observations . . . The conversations between Croyden and Brook . . . stand as proof that Croyden was talking to an artist who 'is interested in something more than his art,' an artist whose aim, among others, is to 'reach the point in a common service where everything is charged and a rewarding experience begins to shape.'"— Parabola
"Again and again in this fascinating collection of interviews with Brook about his extraordinary body of work Croyden shows how the craft of journalism can rise to the level of art itself by challenging an artist to reveal himself . . . Croyden tracks Brook through his spiritual and geographic travels, asking challenging questions and refusing to back down until the answer Brook gives has the ring of personal truth. The resulting work will illuminate and enthrall anyone who loves the theater—and everyone interested in what it can mean to live fearlessly and creatively, to make one's life a search."— Kirkus Reviews
"Here is the fascinating and provocatively stimulating distillation of three decades of intense, but sometimes gossipy, conversations between one of the 20th century's few true theater innovators and America's leading writer on the theatrical avant-garde. A splendid book. A great read. I loved it."— Clive Barnes
"Peter Brook continues to astonish, not in an ordinary, fashionable way, but in an ancient, insistent way that always forces one inward. There is a true, honest, fearless voice in this fascinating conversation."— Ken Burns
"Margaret Croyden’s sharp, provocative questions to Peter Brook and his brilliant responses make Conversations with Peter Brook a truly sophisticated book—not only about the theater, but about what a great artist thinks, how he works, and how he lives. It is a pleasure to read."— 6Ellen Stewart
"In Conversations with Peter Brook , Margaret Croyden has compiled a fascinating portrait of Brook—the director, the artist, the man—a book that will inspire theater...
Peter Brook is one of the giants of twentieth-century theater, having started as a stage director at the age of twenty before being named the primary director at the Covent Garden opera house and, eventually, becoming the unique creative genius who virtually reinvented the way actors and directors think about theater, through his groundbreaking productions of King Lear , Marat/Sade , A Midsummer Night’s Dream , and, especially, The Mahabharata . Since the creation in the 1970s of his International Center for Theater Research in Paris, he has sought to focus on teaching and researching as well as directing—always looking for new ways to illuminate the truth of a text so that actors and audiences alike are challenged to question both the performance of the piece and the larger truth surrounding it.
Margaret Croyden has followed Peter Brook’s career from 1970 up to the present. As a result, her perspective on the evolution of his work is unparalleled, and she brings to the interview process the acuity of a critic and the knowledgeability of a devoted observer. As she says in her introduction, “The most important aspect of Brook’s character and his artistry is that he is a searcher . . . a questioner, a teacher.” In this book, Brook—with Croyden’s able assistance—shares some of his most insightful thoughts and deepest feelings about the theater and the world.
Margaret Croyden has written for The New York Times , among other publications, and is the author of In the Shadow of the Three Journeys and Lunatics, Lovers, and The Contemporary Experimental Theater . She lives in New York City.
Peter Brook is one of the giants of twentieth-century theater, a uniquely creative genius who, through his groundbreaking productions of King Lear , Marat/Sade , A Midsummer Night's Dream , and especially The Mahabharata , has virtually reinvented the way actors and directors think about theater. Margaret Croyden has followed Peter Brook's career from 1970 to the present, gaining unparalleled perspective on the evolution of his work. Throughout the interviews in this book, she uses that knowledge to elicit from Peter Brook some of his insightful thoughts and deepest feelings about theater and the world.
"Here is the fascinating and provocatively stimulating distillation of three decades of intense, but sometimes gossipy, conversations between one of the 20th century's few true theater innovators and America's leading writer on the theatrical avant-garde. A splendid book. A great read. I loved it."— Clive Barnes
"A success . . . Challenging and fearless in her questions, Croyden also conveys such vivid vignettes of the plays and their often beautiful or striking settings that a pang is evoked for every missed chance to say 'I was there' . . . Croyden's ability to put questions in a fitting way allows Brook to share with her some astonishingly authentic impressions and observations . . . The conversations between Croyden and Brook . . . stand as proof that Croyden was talking to an artist who 'is interested in something more than his art,' an artist whose aim, among others, is to 'reach the point in a common service where everything is charged and a rewarding experience begins to shape.'"— Parabola
"Again and again in this fascinating collection of interviews with Brook about his extraordinary body of work Croyden shows how the craft of journalism can rise to the level of art itself by challenging an artist to reveal himself . . . Croyden tracks Brook through his spiritual and geographic travels, asking challenging questions and refusing to back down until the answer Brook gives has the ring of personal truth. The resulting work will illuminate and enthrall anyone who loves the theater—and everyone interested in what it can mean to live fearlessly and creatively, to make one's life a search."— Kirkus Reviews
"Here is the fascinating and provocatively stimulating distillation of three decades of intense, but sometimes gossipy, conversations between one of the 20th century's few true theater innovators and America's leading writer on the theatrical avant-garde. A splendid book. A great read. I loved it."— Clive Barnes
"Peter Brook continues to astonish, not in an ordinary, fashionable way, but in an ancient, insistent way that always forces one inward. There is a true, honest, fearless voice in this fascinating conversation."— Ken Burns
"Margaret Croyden’s sharp, provocative questions to Peter Brook and his brilliant responses make Conversations with Peter Brook a truly sophisticated book—not only about the theater, but about what a great artist thinks, how he works, and how he lives. It is a pleasure to read."— 6Ellen Stewart
"In Conversations with Peter Brook , Margaret Croyden has compiled a fascinating portrait of Brook—the director, the artist, the man—a book that will inspire theater...
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 21, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 19, 2011
I read the vast majority of this book a year ago, but the copy I had stayed in Mexico and I did not. The book is a series of conversations between Peter Brook and Margaret Croyden about his work. The conversations take place in the 30 year period between 1970 and 2000.
The topics are interesting are interesting as it the relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee. Brook can be by turns prickly, wise, arrogant, insightful... While Croyden can be inquisitive, servile, rational, defensive....
Much of what Brook says strikes me as too declarative. I am wary of absolutes. But, I also loved many of his descriptions. The chapter on "The Tragedy of Carmen" was particularly appealing. I would have loved to see that production.
Of all of his ideas, the one that remains most strongly with me after a year is in the chapter on The International Center of Theater Research. Croyden asks him "Why would theater be necessary or unnecessary?" and in his response he says,
"If it isn't something people in a community demand, that people feel they can't live without, without which people would feel deprived, as if you took the sunshine away - if theater doesn't evoke the same need, it is not a real theater."
Then he goes on to tell a beautiful story about Thanksgiving in New York as an example.
All in all, it is a lovely book and one I am sure I will return to in the future.
The topics are interesting are interesting as it the relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee. Brook can be by turns prickly, wise, arrogant, insightful... While Croyden can be inquisitive, servile, rational, defensive....
Much of what Brook says strikes me as too declarative. I am wary of absolutes. But, I also loved many of his descriptions. The chapter on "The Tragedy of Carmen" was particularly appealing. I would have loved to see that production.
Of all of his ideas, the one that remains most strongly with me after a year is in the chapter on The International Center of Theater Research. Croyden asks him "Why would theater be necessary or unnecessary?" and in his response he says,
"If it isn't something people in a community demand, that people feel they can't live without, without which people would feel deprived, as if you took the sunshine away - if theater doesn't evoke the same need, it is not a real theater."
Then he goes on to tell a beautiful story about Thanksgiving in New York as an example.
All in all, it is a lovely book and one I am sure I will return to in the future.
March 19, 2016
I've gone back and read this collection again; if I could, I'd now change my rating from 3 stars to 4 stars ... reviewer's remorse :)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews