At Work with Grotowski on Physical Actions

by Thomas Richards, Jerzy Grotowski

(Excerpt)
Grotowski knows that to learn something means to conquer it in practice. One must learn through "doing" and not through memorization of ideas and theories . . . the axis of this text is a method, or better yet a practice, finally central to the work of Stanislavski, and later developed by Grotowski: "physical actions."
Grotowski is inheritor of the mantle of Stanislavski, renowned and revered for his radical innovation as a director, and for his seminal manifesto "Towards a Poor Theatre,"
"At Work With Grotowski on" "Physical Actions" by Thomas Richards, Grotowski's long-time collaborator, is the first available statement in English of Grotowski's current working practices and theoretical position in over twenty years.
This is Thomas Richards' inside account of his decade-long exclusive collaboration with one of the central figures of 20th-century theatre. It reviews in jargon-free terms Grotowski's developments since the time of "Towards a Poor Theatre,"
With the preface and concluding chapter by Grotowski himself, "At Work With Grotowski" is not only a portrait of the master at work, but also Grotowski's personal testimony to a life spent on the leading edge of the theatre world.
"At Work with Grotowski on Physical Actions" will take its rightful place alongside the dozen or so seminal theatre books of this century. Richards' account will prove a unique resource for actors, students, and anyone seriously interested in the best that the theatre has to offer.

Genres: Theatre

ebook

First published May 4, 1995

About the author

Thomas Richards was born in the USA in 1962. He is the son of director Lloyd Richards. Richards received a BA from Yale.

He has been a collaborator of Jerzy Grotowski since 1986.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's painful that somewhere out there a teacher who could explain all this directly to me does exist. And I have no idea how to find him/her. All the same, another amazing book about an amazing acting teacher.

[Isabella Perego · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oro

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro imprescindible, no sólo en cuanto a actuación sino también con el compromiso que tenemos con ella. Como decía Grotowski, no seamos solo “turistas” de ello, pongámoslo todo.
Reflexiones muy profundas en cuanto a lo que quiere decir actuar con una lucidez espectacular. Qué pena que esté descatalogado y sea difícil de encontrar.

[John Brannigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to read for a class this semester, and I’m glad I did. One of the best books on acting I have read because it resonated with my process and what I needed the most. The book is very intelligent, knowledgeable, and isn’t too difficult to digest. Though, I did find myself reading at a slower pace to really visualize and internalize the content.

[Ariadna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Al principi resulta un poc complex de llegir però conforme vas avançant en la lectura te indinses per complet.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this last night when I couldn't sleep and it was raining and the grad students in the lower flat next door were having a halloween party. Really loved Richard's first-hand accounts of workshops and work groups with no public performance as goal, particularly Richards' take on his own 'tourism' and 'dilettantism' and other vocabulary words for mistakes of approach to 'the work'. Both his own vocabulary and Grotowski's, such as 'pumping up' (one's emotions) or what came to be called 'Thomas Richard's Crimes' (making noise during the main action, loud breathing, disconnecting from one's partners).