Hacia un teatro pobre

by Jerzy Grotowski

Nadie, desde Stanislavski, ha investigado la naturaleza de la actuación, su fenómeno, su significado, la ciencia y naturaleza de sus procesos mentales físicos y emocionales tan profunda y completamente como Grotowski. Su teatro, al que llama laboratorio, no es un teatro en el sentido corriente de la palabra, sino más bien un instituto consagrado a la investigación del dominio del arte teatral y del arte del actor en particular, puesto que el actor es el único elemento sin el cual el teatro no puede existir (el teatro puede existir sin vestuario o escenario, sin música y sin luces y aun sin texto). La educación del actor en el teatro de Grotowski no estriba en "enseñarle" algo, se tratad de eliminar la resistencia del organismo a este proceso psíquico. Su vía es negativo, no una serie de habilidades sino la erradicación de bloqueos. El resultado es que el actor se libera y sus impulsos y sus reacciones exteriores se vuelven uno: el cuerpo desaparece y el espectador sólo ve una serie de impulsos visibles. Las producciones de Grotowski son investigaciones detalladas de la relación del actor con el espectador, en un ámbito pobre, rico en experiencias.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, Drama, Art, Plays, Theory, Reference

233 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Jerzy Grotowski was a Polish theatre director and innovator of experimental theatre, the "theatre laboratory" and "poor theatre" concepts.

Reviews

[Paulina · Rating 5 out of 5]

'So always avoid banality. That is, avoid illustrating the author's words and remarks. If you want to create a true masterpiece you must always avoid beautiful lies: the truths on the calender under each date you find a proverb or saying such as: "He who is good to others will be happy." But this is not true. It is a lie. The spectator, perhaps, is content. The spectator likes easy truths. But we are not there to please or pander to the spectator. We are here to tell the truth.'

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1950s Poland, Grototwski pioneered the idea of a theatre laboratory as a place where theatre happens through a process of experimentation. This book reveals his experiments as a crux between what we see in contemporary theatre and the rich traditions of theatrical forms from all over the world. From the standpoint of the über-globalized 21st century reader, these experiments may seem less than novel—contemporary theatre and the yoga class happening down the street have a lot in common with what's going on in this book. But given the setting of Grotowski's work (post-war, Eastern Bloc Poland) the title of this book clues us in on the tools that he had. Whereas Brecht sensationalized the concept of "poor theatre" in his Threepenny Opera, Grotowski & Co. lived it. We're talking towards a poor theatre—who could spare the three pennies to even see it? Lucky for me my roomie had this book. Now I have three pennies to spend at the theater.

[Kaysy Ostrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had many beautiful pearls of wisdom for anyone interested in theatre. Grotowski is an inspiration for anyone who believes in theatre just as an artform in general. I believe every aspiring actor should read Grotowski's ten things: the final chapter of this book.
However, if you are not into theatre you will.not.enjoy.this. there were some chapters I skimmed over because it was just lists of exercises that Grotowski did and no matter how interesting a list can be, I don't want to read a book of lists.

this is the first of many Grotowski books I have to read for my research paper. Luckily, I find him interesting. Unluckily, I don't really understand everything he talks about. Hopefully, this paper will turn out well. Until then, here comes more Grotowski reading!

[Fluffy Singler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't necessarily think Grotowski's method is for me, but I really like some of his ideas and was very edified by reading this.

[Ali Hasan zadeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

این کتاب مثل قرآن برای اهالی تئاتر هست و واجب هست خوندنش برای علاقه مندان .

[Jon Catherwood-Ginn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding read! Over time, Grotowski has developed this almost mythological mystique as an experimental theatre artist; consequently, many view his theories and techniques with dubiousness and reserve. "Sure, it worked for the Teatr Labortorium, but how the hell can I apply this stuff to my production of 'Guys and Dolls?'"

True, what Grot. and Co. developed through their remarkably empirical studies of the actor's craft are largely unrepeatable. Well, the productions, that is. But it seems that Grot's intention isn't to provide the means to recreate such works as "Akropolis" and "Constant Prince"--Grot's aesthetic is his own. If anything, "Towards and Poor Theatre" provides three things:

a. Theory -- impassioned words on the actor's necessary societal role (actor as shaman, conduit for cross-cultural mythologies, etc.) and Theatre's unique attributes as an aesthetic form and the advantages found therein.
b. Exercises -- well-detailed guides to unleashing the actor's voice through resonators and association games, poses and movement-etudes to develop the actor's physical dexterity and strength, etc.
c. Production Notes -- "backstage" guides to the work behind some of Grot's most famous productions ("Akropolis," "Dr. Faustus," etc.)

While I loved the essays for their savage sincerity and consideration of the actor's art throughout history, I found the "exercises" section pretty dry. I mean, how many times can you read about the "effectiveness" of a game in which actors run around pretending to be tigers? I don't doubt that these exercises are tried-and-true; it seems that Grot. did a lot to cut-down on the inevitable laugh-factor by instituting rigid rehearsal rules (absolute silence, moratorium on talking about others' work, etc.). In offering actors a incomparably personalized method--grounded in, above all else, discipline--Grotowski has produced a timeless source of inspiration and practical means to improving the sincerity of performance. If you haven't yet, grab this book!

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

یرژی گروتوفسکی لهستانی، یکی از کارگردانان پیشرو تیاتر مدرن جهان است که با مکتب تیاتری اش به نام "تیاتر بی چیز"، از دهه ی شصت قرن بیستم مشهور شد. از مشهورترین کارهای تیاتری گروتوفسکی و گروه کارگاهی اش در قرن گذشته، "آکروپولیس" بر مبنای متون بر گرفته از کتاب مقدس است که بر روی صحنه ای نه چندان دور از اردوگاه آشویتس اجرا شد. "شکونتالا" بر اساس متنی از کالیداسا، "اورفه" اثر ژان کوکتو، "سوگنامه ی دکتر فاوستوس" بر مبنای نمایش نامه ی کرستوفر مارلو و اجرایی استثنایی، که در آن تماشاگران در شام خداحافظی فاوستوس، با بازیگران سر یک میز می نشستند، و بالاخره نمایش نامه ی "همیشه شاهزاده" با بازی "ریچارد چیشلاک"، هنرپیشه ی مشهور گروه، در بسیاری از شهرهای جهان اجرا شد، و از آن به عنوان یکی از بزرگ ترین اجراهای تیاتری قرن بیستم یاد می شود. "همیشه شاهزاده" یک اجرا هم در یکی از جشن های هنر شیراز، و اجرایی هم در باغ فردوس تهران داشت. نظریه ی گروتوفسکی در تیاتر، بر اساس نظریه ی "تیاتر بیومکانیک" از "مه یر هولد" بنا شده. در این نظریه اندام بازیگر بجای دکور، موسیقی و بسیاری عوامل تیاتری حتی نور و دیالوگ، بیانگر روح متن است. به عبارتی نمایش یک اثر تا حد ممکن با حرکات بدنی بازیگر. نظریه ی گروتوفسکی که در واقع نقطه ی پایانی بود بر اجراهای کلاسیک تیاتر، هم چنان در کارگاهی به نام "اودن تیاتر" در جنوب دانمارک، و توسط یکی از شاگردان مشهور گروتوفسکی به نام "اوژنی باربا" تدریس می شود و بسیاری از بزرگان تیاتر امروز جهان، دوره ای از بدن سازی و فراگرفتن اصول آن بر روی صحنه را در این کارگاه آموزش دیده اند.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grotowski's vision was of a bare bones theater - little in the way of costume, set, makeup or lighting - everything coming from the actor, with a great deal of participation from and interaction with the audience. If you have ever seen the film "My Dinner With Andre", there is a part where Andre describes taking part in one of Grotowski's theater experiences, which had a profound effect on him. While Grotowski's Poor Theatre may seem dated now it was revolutionary stuff at the time. A good read for drama students or anyone interested in theater theory/history.

[Abraham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really gets down to thinking about theater and acting in holistic (why is that not spelled with a 'w'?) way. Its critiques of theater, and the piecemeal opulence of the modern, egocentric, and overdone theater hit the mark entirely. Anybody involved in theater should read this.

[Nicholas Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. Yeah man! ACTING!

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book en suite with Artaud's Theatre and Its Double and Brook's The Empty Space, all of which share certain theories of the purpose and goals of theatre. But of the three, this is by far my favorite. I think that what I liked most about Grotowski's book is the exactitude of his work compared to Brook and especially Artaud--one of the things I especially disliked about Artaud was that, in Grotowski's words, when Artaud "moves from description to theory however, he starts explaining magic by magic, cosmic trance by cosmic trance" (89). In a way there may be a purpose to this abstract description, but I found Grotowski's much more exact and scientific descriptions clearer and more useful. For Grotowski the entire purpose of his work was a (semi-)scientific examination of how the actor's art works. This goal contributes to a style where he lays out the goals of his methodology as clearly as possible, though he does sometimes still fall back into abstracts.

[Julian Munds · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read this collection now a few times and it is a good manual for his ideas. A lot of the work in this collection can be found in other publications like the Schechner source book. It's an interesting read. Grotowski did abandon a lot of his work in this period later as tried to expand his ideas, but this book serves as a monument to certain ideas, and productions.

[Gracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerzy Grotowski developed techniques for actors in the late '60's. He's a classic tortured artist philosopher. The real deal.

[Adam Lauver · Rating 5 out of 5]

The publicotropist in me just got smashed in the face by a Grotowski-shaped brick. God DAMN.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

مبارزه طلبی.نه فقط برای یک‌روز و تنها یک‌بار در زندگی،که برای همیشه.

[Carolina Valente · Rating 3 out of 5]

não vou escrever uma review porque já tive de escrever um ensaio.
MAS

[Andrew Cockcroft-Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Via Negativa

[Ben Bush]

After reading Ayad Akhtar's "Homeland Elegies," I was interested that he'd trained with Grotowski. In "My Dinner With Andre," Andre describes the strange rituals he underwent at Grotowski's theater training center in Italy. Grotowski's trip to the US in 1968 (documented in this book) made a big impact on NYC avant-garde theater, laying the foundation for projects like Wooster Group (and therefore you can imagine a connection to the work of Spalding Gray who got his start there.) Richard Schechner, who conducts some of the intervews here, was ousted as the director of Wooster Group by the group's leader Elizabeth LeCompte and Schechner is now known primarily as a performance theorist advocating "efficaciousness" (e.g. the idea that performance could create an actual change in the world) rather than entertainment. (And thus the vigorous debates between the Schechnerians and the anti-Schechnerians in the UCLA performance theory departments or so I'm told.) It's also easy to see the potential for abuses of power in this conception of theater as explored in Susan Choi's novel Trust Exercise. It's interesting to think about this book as a guide for writing.

[Alex Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Here, Grotowski and company would have actors pull out parts of themselves, to call about aspects of who they are to express emotion rather than relying on props or other more expensive cues. This kind of pure expression of what theater is an articulation of the cut of what theater is; the exhibition of pure expression. I'm not very familiar with the genealogy of theater but this seems to be a kind of method in which we tool ourselves for automative action -- a very modernist view that would have to occur from modernist purity. This is a very rational approach to theater.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I am the tiger...not you...I am going to eat you..." from the "Tiger Exercise" (177).

I'm reading around this text, thrilled at much of what I find. I'm lazing in the chapter in which Grotowski teaches pupils how to use the seven different voice resonators in their body. So far I can only feel the chest, nasal, and occipital resonators at work. And it makes Emily look at me like I'm crazy because I'm humming and grunting around the apartment.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never had any personal experience with Grotowski's technique, but this book gave me as much of an understanding as one can have without actually doing it.

[Ojo Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strip it down to its bare elements.

[gieb]

Dulu pernah punya terjemahannya: Menuju Teater Miskin. Tapi sekarang entah di mana. Mau cari lagi. Ada info?

[Eleni · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have any interest in theatre, especially physical theatre, this is your bible. This is one of those iconic books that changed theatre forever.

[Jon Chater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and interesting. The whole roles of the actor and playwrights are changed. An inspirational book.

[Llewellyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essential topic, but so much theatrical writing is pseudo-philosophy that it makes the reading a slog. Brock's Empty Space covers the topic in a much better way.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

rereading -- towards a poor poetics? -- the power of post...?

[Jennifer Padron · Rating 5 out of 5]

i miss this.

[Christina knox · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is one of the greatest books ever written.

[Jorge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grotowski plantea una búsqueda constante en el teatro, a través de su Laboratorio Teatral. Este espacio está consagrado a la investigación del dominio del arte teatral y del arte de actuar en particular, puesto que actor y espectador son los únicos elementos sin los cuales el teatro no puede existir (el teatro puede existir sin vestuario, escenario, música, luces o texto).

Su trabajo consiste en aplicar una tensión elevada al extremo, una desnudez total y una exposición absoluta de su propia intimidad. Es una técnica del “trance”, o el “acto total”, un acto que comprometa todo su ser más allá de aquellos límites que normalmente haya conocido.

Su proceso es una vía negativa: no es una colección de técnicas, sino la destrucción de obstáculos. No es una acumulación de signos, sino una destilación, eliminando los elementos de conducta natural que oscurecen el impulso puro.

Las obras que representan se basan en grandes clásicos polacos e internacionales, siempre asociadas a mitos en la conciencia colectiva. Hace una revisión del problema del mito: ahora nos relacionamos con él de forma personal, no colectiva, por la falta de una fe común. Sólo una confrontación con el mito es posible: el teatro debe atacar los complejos colectivos de la sociedad. La fuerza de las grandes obras consiste en su efecto catalítico: abren puertas para nosotros, ponen en marcha nuestra autovigilancia. El texto es una especie de escalpelo que nos permite abrirnos a nosotros mismos, trascendernos, encontrar lo que está escondido dentro de nosotros y realizar el acto de encuentro con los demás, trascender nuestra soledad.

Fue entrenado por Stanislavski: plantea mismas preguntas para llegar a un método (“¿cómo puede hacerse esto?”), llega a conclusiones distintas: su vía negativa. Cualquier método que no se proyecte hacia lo desconocido es malo: aprendo en el proceso de montaje, no antes.

Uno de sus principios es que la espontaneidad y la disciplina, en lugar de contraponerse, se refuerzan entre sí. Esta lección no fue entendida ni por Stanislavski, que dejó que los impulsos naturales dominaran, ni por Brecht, que subrayó demasiado la construcción de un papel.
Lo medular del teatro es el encuentro, un acto de autorrevelación, en el que el actor establece contacto consigo mismo, una extrema confrontación, sincera, disciplinada, precisa y total, no meramente una confrontación con sus pensamientos sino una confrontación que envuelva su ser íntegro, desde sus instintos y su aspecto inconsciente hasta su estado más lúcido.

El arte de la actuación se basa en estimular el proceso de autorrevelación, llegando hasta el inconsciente, pero canalizando los estímulos a fin de obtener la reacción requerida; ser capaz de articular el proceso, disciplinarlo y convertirlo en signos; y eliminar del proceso creativo las resistencias y los obstáculos causados por el propio organismo (físico y psíquico). El proceso creativo consiste no en revelarnos nosotros mismos, sino en estructurar lo que se ha revelado.

El texto tiene muchos niveles de lectura posibles. En primer lugar, es una declaración de intenciones y principios, que sirven para concebir un tipo de teatro y no otros (un teatro pobre, con ideas acerca de la ética, moral, disciplina, dedicación, atención, etc.). Por otra parte, es una suerte de recursos poéticos, de la misma manera que él explica Artaud, que me sirven como inspiración abstracta a las posibilidades del teatro, como un camino infinito que se ha de seguir, porque el objetivo final (la trascendencia y la liberación de todos los obstáculos) queda muy lejos, sino en un lugar imposible.

Además, es muy interesante la lectura desde el punto de vista contemporáneo: es 2022, y muchos patrones en cuanto a los movimientos teatrales, la vanguardia y los modos de teatro predominantes han cambiado. Hoy en día, es complicado concebir una compañía como la de Grotowski, con tales exigencias y dedicación, y tan fuera del ámbito comercial. Análogamente, son una suerte de artesanía: objetos de gran valor y complicada producción, pero con un coste tan elevado que la sociedad actual no puede o quiere permitírselos, acudiendo antes a productos fabricados en grandes producciones, que abaratan costes (teatros comerciales, con tiempos de ensayo que no permiten la creatividad, profundidad o trascendencia, en la mayoría de los casos).