The Open Door: Thoughts on Acting and Theatre

by Peter Brook

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 We come to the theatre to find life, but that life must be different from the life we find outside. 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.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, Essays, Art, British Literature, Drama

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Peter Brook is a world-renowned theater director, staging innovative productions of the works of famous playwrights. A native of London, he has been based in France since the 1970s.

Peter Brook's parents were immigrant scientists from Russia. A precocious child with a distaste for formal education but a love of learning, Brook performed his own four-hour version of Shakespeare's Hamlet at the age of seven. After spending two years in Switzerland recovering from a glandular infection, Brook became one of the youngest undergraduates at Oxford University. At the same time he directed his first play in London, a production of Marlowe's Dr. Faustus. Brook made his directing debut at the Stratford Theatre at the age of 21, with a production of Love's Labours Lost.

Over the next several years, Brook directed both theater and opera, as well as designing the sets and costumes for his productions. He eventually grew disillusioned with opera, calling it "deadly theater." He directed prominent actors, including Laurence Olivier in Titus Andronicus and Paul Schofeld in a filmed King Lear. He also directed a film adaptation of Lord of the Flies. In 1962, he was named a director of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Despite his popular successes, Brook sought out alternative ways to create vibrant, meaningful theater. He directed a season of experimental theater with the Royal Shakespeare Company, inspired by Antonin Artaud's "Theatre of Cruelty." He sought to turn away from stars and to create an ensemble of actors who improvised during a long rehearsal period in a search of the meaning of "holy theater."

Out of this search came Brook's finest work. In 1964 he directed Genet's The Screens and Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade, for which he received seven major awards and introduced Glenda Jackson to the theater. Influenced by Brecht and Artaud, Marat/Sade shocked the audience with its insane asylum environment. In 1966 he developed US, a play about the Vietnam experience and the horrors of war. Jerzy Grotowski, one of the most important theater directors of this century and a man who profoundly influenced Brook, came to work with the company during this production. Brook also did an adaptation of Seneca's Oedipus by poet Ted Hughes, a who continued to collaborate with him for many years. The culmination of this phase of Brook's work was his production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1970). Using trapezes, juggling, and circus effects, Brook and his actors created a sense of magic, joy, and celebration in this interpretation of Shakespeare's play.

After this, Brook moved to Paris and founded the International Center of Theatre Research. He wanted to find a new form of theater that could speak to people worldwide--theater which was truly universal. He also wanted to work in an environment of unlimited rehearsal time in order to allow for a deep search-of-self for all involved. The first production that came out of this phase was Orghast (1971), which employed a new language developed by Ted Hughes. This production, performed at the ruins of Persepolis in Persia, used actors from many different countries.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fundamental book for all those who see art as not an ego driven, elitist product, but as a spiritual process which transforms artist and audience with honor. Although written by the guru of theatre, for me, it transcends to an ever powerful philosophy, prompting me to be a better human being. For those of you who know me and "Sphota," this is where it can be found.

[scherzo♫ · Rating 5 out of 5]

page 102: "It (an audience) will only be irresistibly interested if the very first words, sounds or actions of the performance release deep within each spectator a first murmur related to the hidden themes that gradually appear. This cannot be an intellectual, least of all a rational, process. The theatre is in no way a discussion between cultivated people. The theatre, through the energy of sound, word, colour and movement, touches an emotional button that in turn sends tremors through the intellect."

[Marta Crespo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aunque al principio me costó habituarme a la vaguedad del lenguaje (quizás debido a que se trata de tres conferencias) al final me ha parecido muy útil y estimulante para situarse en la práctica escénica a partir de una poética y unos saberes “artesanales” de la disciplina. Está lleno de hallazgos realmente valiosos para ponerse al trabajo (sobre todo de dirección) desde la humildad, sutileza, intuición y perspicacia que requiere hacer teatro. Comparto totalmente el punto de vista.

[Laroserr · Rating 5 out of 5]

primer llibre per l'it que acabo. m'han semblat molt molt interessants diferents cosetes. entre elles la manera en que parla de la importància dels elements indispensables en l'espai, de la força de la intuïció i la capacitat de fer i desfer per no autolimitar-nos en el nostre procés artístic de creació.
llegint-lo em sentia com si una abraçada d'amor cap a la professió em rodegés. amor, coneixements i provar provar provar.

[CTEP]

It was suggested to me by my site supervisor that in order to help me readdress creativity in the classroom and better utilize my theatre training as a teacher and educator, that I take the time to read a book on performance and directing and attempt to see it through the lens of teaching and curriculum building. As a result I found myself reading The Open Door by Peter Brook. The Open Door is a series of essays and short musings on the process of creating theatre.
As I read the essays it was not hard to find parallels for lessons that theatre has taught me that are easily applied to the classroom. For instance, Brook discusses the importance of a director maintaining their own sense of boredom as an audience member in producing a show. If a director is bored than chances are they should take notice and recognize that an audience will likely be bored as well. In working on my current large Capacity Building project of rewriting our Employment Ready Youth curriculum there are several times I have lost interest in the content and have powered through with the excuse of I'm just bored because I'm working on this a lot and need to get it done. After reading Brook and deciding that paying attention to my instinctual responses is a way to foresee another's responses I have gone back and reassessed some of those portions of the curriculum that I found tiresome to write and have opted to enliven them with more activities and discussion, a change for the better.
Additionally Brook discusses the importance of being able to let go of a project despite spending hours of time and concentration on its completion. Reminding myself of this necessity of sacrificing one's work if the need arises has helped me to refocus myself in light of constantly changing projects at the WorkForce Center. It seems like every week there are changes in our plans due to partner sites and funding and accepting that something may not come through all the time and yet I should still invest myself in it is a skill I have needed to rebuild in approaching my service.
Overall the lessons Brook imparts are certainly targeted more directly towards performance and the arts, but by viewing them as transferable skills into any work environment I have been able to think more deeply about the skills that I bring to the table from past experiences versus only utilizing the skills I have picked up at my service site. These lessons are allowing me to hopefully create more effective and relevant lessons for my students as well as keep myself sane when working in the WorkForce environment.

[fivestarbookreview]

In reading Peter Brook's The Open Door, I was struck, as I always am, by Brook's mysticism regarding theatre. Though I don't typically respond well to new-age-y one liners, there is plenty of inspiration to absorb. Unlike his other seminal book, The Empty Space, this collection of musings is less strictly structured and ranges freely. Over a multitude of topics. As usual, Brook's primary focus is on not getting entangled in the rehearsal room either by traditional forms, overreliance on the text, or by outsider influence. Ultimately, he believes that the responsibility for the success of a performance is determined by the director, but is also intrinsically linked to the specifics of time, location, culture, and audience. As with any creative pursuit, Brook insists that flexibility is key: "Staying too long in the depths can become boring. Staying too long in the superficial soon becomes banal. Staying too long on the heights may be intolerable. We must move all the time."

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

La puerta abierta es un pequeño libro de ensayos que reúne tres conferencias dadas por Peter Brook: «La astucia del aburrimiento», «El pez dorado» y «No hay secretos», las que le sirvieron de base para formar estas reflexiones en torno a la interpretación y el teatro.
De lejos, la parte más extensa es la primera, en la que Brook trae a colación algunos conceptos de su anterior libro El espacio vacío y la enseñanza que este encierra: para hacer teatro basta únicamente un espacio en el que un hombre sea observado por otro. Pues no hace falta más para que exista el acto teatral.
Y al respecto de este, es cierto que se afirma que el «teatro es vida», pero no por eso es fácil representar la vida en un escenario, lo que hace muy importante la función de los actores, los cuales han recibido años y años de entrenamiento para ser verosímiles y naturales incluso en las acciones que pareciesen las más fútiles. De manera tal que esto se presente como el elemento más importante para una obra teatral: el elemento humano, pues una buena interpretación haría fluir la energía en el escenario, no solo porque estos interiorizan el papel, sino que también fluyen con sus compañeros y, además, con el público. Esto hace que una obra esté viva, y cumpla —a mi parecer— con la premisa de que el teatro es la mejor metáfora de la vida.
Es importante también atener a lo que afirma Brooks sobre el aburrimiento, pues lo utiliza para cuestionarse sobre la obra que esté dirigiendo. Si la obra aburre, ¿se debe a uno mismo o algo está fallando en la puesta en escena? Interesante método es el de probar la obra frente a un grupo de niños, los cuales son insobornables cuando están aburridos. Si la obra los aburre, es porque no se está yendo por el camino correcto.
En esta parte, además también profundiza en el trabajo del actor y en el manejo que este debe tener sobre su cuerpo, su principal herramienta.
La metáfora del segundo ensayo sobre el pez dorado es muy ilustrativa. El pez dorado es la presea deseada de cualquier pescador, es decir de todo teatrista que quiere capturar al público y para eso debe ser siempre sorprende, no puede ser convencional, porque de esa manera solo sería aburrido. Y hay mucha verdad en esto. La esencia del teatro es siempre ser arriesgado, y no conformarse con la medianía de lo convencional.
Finalmente, la última parte, «No hay secretos» nos habla de eso, precisamente: no hay una fórmula secreta en el teatro. El campo de juego, el escenario, va evolucionando siempre y está en manos del director darle la forma final, la cual va mutando y puede no estar tranquila hasta el último día y hasta puede que ni siquiera responda a la visión primigenia que tenía de la obra.

[Sol Rezza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantástico libro, recomendado no sólo para aquellos interesados en el teatro. Me parece importante para cualquier profesor de cualquier arte. Un libro pensado, con relatos de ejercicios teatrales interesantes.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

“So what is our aim? It is meeting with the fabric of life, no more and no less.”

I got so much from reading The Open Door, especially the last essay “There Are No Secrets.” I will definitely return to this…

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

之前想說來讀一下從沒瞭解過領域的書籍, 選了這一本有關於劇場的書, 結果只能說: 沒瞭解過的還是不要想瞭解吧(至少不要以為只讀了一本書就能瞭解).
閱讀過程中, 一直昏昏欲睡, 而且也看不懂作者想要表達的事(雖然作者似乎是很有名的劇作家), 尤其是又臭又長的第一章, 完全沒有弄懂一丁點, 一邊讀只是一邊想: 我何苦看這本書啊!

[Laura Sánchez Negrete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trae muy buenos aprendizajes sí es que te estar formando en el medio artístico, pero sinceramente hubo un momento en el que si me aburría, es más me quedé dormida y todo.
De ahí en fuera está bien 👌🏻

[Kerstin LH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo leí para una clase de teatro y realmente recuerdo que cambio mi forma de pensar y analizar el teatro.

[James Fagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lover of “the empty soace” this was an important next read.

[Michael Galvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I found it interesting to read Peter Brook’s take on the theatre world, I ultimately do not think this book was for me. I think he’s target audience definitely theatrical directors and actors (something I am not). I did highlight many quotes that I found unique that I would like to go back to and reflect on. One thing I would say that Brook’s writing, especially when he discusses examples using people in them, I would consider to be androcentric. So I’m just giving that as a heads up before reading the book.

[Yin Yin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brook shared many brilliant insights on drama and performing arts. Strongly recommended for people loving theater and drama.

[Dearwassily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important for any kind of performer.

[Víctor Iván López Espíritu Santo · Rating 3 out of 5]

“La Puerta abierta” de Peter Brook, publicado por Editorial el Milagro, es una obra introspectiva y reveladora que ofrece una visión única sobre la filosofía y el proceso creativo del director británico. A través de este texto, Brook nos invita a adentrarnos en su enfoque del teatro, un medio que considera «la más auténtica metáfora de la vida», proporcionando una reflexión profunda sobre su arte y sus elecciones teatrales. El libro no solo explora cómo selecciona las obras que dirige, sino también el minucioso trabajo detrás de las extraordinarias interpretaciones de sus actores. Brook se adentra en el proceso de crear una atmósfera genuina sobre el escenario, donde la acción no solo transcurre ante los focos, sino también en el espacio invisible y dinámico entre bastidores, un lugar donde se desenvuelven las emociones y la esencia del teatro. Lo que hace que La puerta abierta sea esencial para cualquier amante del teatro es su capacidad para mezclar la teoría con la práctica, y ofrecer una mirada crítica y provocadora sobre el estado actual del teatro. Brook no elude los retos y la inestabilidad que enfrenta el arte teatral en un mundo que parece tener menos espacio para lo profundo y lo experimental, pero también mantiene viva la esperanza de que el teatro sigue siendo un refugio para la exploración humana. La obra de Brook es una reflexión tanto sobre lo nuevo como sobre lo clásico. Como destaca el San Francisco Chronicle, Brook es «uno de los genios artísticos de nuestro tiempo», un creador cuya capacidad para reinterpretar obras clásicas y para encontrar el significado en las obras contemporáneas refleja su genuina creatividad y visión única del mundo. En resumen, La puerta abierta es un testimonio invaluable de un maestro teatral que no solo ha dejado una huella en el arte de la dirección, sino que también ofrece a los lectores una invitación a comprender el teatro desde una perspectiva más profunda, humana y filosófica. Es una obra esencial para quienes deseen conocer el pensamiento y la práctica de uno de los más grandes exponentes del teatro moderno. #victorthereader #lapuertaabierta #peterbrook #theatre #teatro

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will simply put this forward that I don’t know much about dramaturgy. However, Peter Brook does and is considered by many to be one of the leading theatre director in our contemporary stage or better if I presume and say, our late contemporary stage. Coming to the context of this particular book, I found it mildly amusing (although I know that a text is not all about amusing the reader). “The Open Door” offers a commentary on the behind-the-scenes philosophical underpinnings of Brook’s re-invention of the modern stage. Ranging from The Mahabharata to Shakespeare to native theatres in Iran and India, Brook theorises the affiliation of theatre with life; the extreme theatre. As Brook remains in search of his “virgin space”, we come to read the stage from his expeditions and experiments and the subtle motors of the theatre-machine, the functions of which evades the gaze of the audience.

Although I have mixed feelings about this one, Brook’s work is an interesting read. Having said that, the fact that I’ve read this during the 2020 pandemic in our digital-regime, I feel that the “modern” theatre has moved way beyond Brook’s ideas – to the extent where I might be a bit tempted (and very naively so perhaps) to claim that the stage that we were once so familiarised with is now on the edge of rapid obsolescence and Brook’s ideas, however brilliant they may be, does very little to estimate the digital stage. But then again, perhaps it is only me, a layman from the digital era of speed politics, who seeks some kind of ultra-rapidity even though when it means gazing at a blur, which perhaps isn’t supposed to mean anything at all.

[Julio Pérez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entre interpretaciones y reflexiones de Peter Brook pude encontrar una fase muy hermosa como actor. Recuerdo llevarme este libro a conciertos, a obras y repetirlo una y otra vez por gusto. Supe que ya era momento de dedicarle tiempo completo y decidí re-empezarlo desde el principio hasta llegar al final en este fin de semana. Ya sea por sus reflexiones del elemento humano, la perfecta armonía de "pensamiento, emoción, cuerpo", la "inmediata' del teatro sagrado y el teatro tosco, el misterio y en especial, el momento presente; La puerta abierta logra aportar muchísimo no solo al actor, a todo el que decida darse la oportunidad de adentrarse a esta máquina para trepar y descender por las escalas del significado. ¡Gracias Brook!

[حسين عبدعلي · Rating 4 out of 5]

هذه المرة الثانية التي أدخل فيها باب بيتر بروك المفتوح وأفكاره في المسرح والتمثيل.. أقرأهُ مرة أخرى لمجرد تذكيري لا أكثر، أنه في الوقت الذي يتمسك البعض بالعلبة الإيطالية وكأنها قرآن مدرسي لا يحيد عنه، مكفراً كل من تسول له نفسه الخروج منها.. وفي الوقت الذي تصرف الملايين من الدنانير لبناء صالة مسرح في البحرين، لم تطأها قدمي وقدم الكثيرين من المهتمين بالمسرح.. وفي الوقت الذي تتجه فيه الثقافة بشكل عام والمسرح بشكل أخص إلى حالة برجوازية، يلهث وراءها أشخاص شغلهم الشاغل أن تكون ربطة عنقهم لائقة بصورة السيلفي التي سيلتقطونها في الفعالية..

بالمقابل هناك كائن على هذه البسيطة.. يبسط سجادته الإيرانية فتتحول إلى مسرح.. يحملها على عاتقها ويجول بها أفريقيا، الأسكيمو، إندونيسيا وكوريا..

[andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

pues un libro de teatro y actuación qué deciros

[Duc Do · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Brook needs no introduction. Quietly insightful about the art of the theatre, Peter has transcended theatre to produce an eloquent text on life itself.

Peter has managed to strike the right balance between "think" and "feel". He "knows" the illusion of time and space, and has found a simple language to transmit this precise state of consciousness. He also threw in a few practical techniques to help actors improve their craft.

A must read for artists of all levels (not just actors), and for seekers.

"Detail is the fruit of understanding."

[Mel]

PB articulates in great detail why theatre is valuable and what makes it lose it's impact in our lives. The relationship with the audience, the danger of codification and "sponsors". He remains for me the single most inspiring voice in theatre. I'd almost rather read Peter Brook on theatre than actually do theatre ... almost ...

[Ethan Everhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brook had a very annoying tendency to default to a male pronoun when referring to people, but like abnormally often. Also he used concerning terms like "Orientals." Other than that, the book had a lot of fascinating ideas for staging theatre.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like brain candy. It is an insightful and refreshing examination of what makes theatre art.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent reading for stage actors.

[Kyle Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as life changing to me as Brooks' "Empty Space", this is an important book for anyone involved in theatre, if not just for the third section alone.

[Jeremy]

a must for any theatre person

[Rachi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brook es un maestro.