The Shifting Point: Theatre, Film, Opera 1946-1987 (Paperback)

~ (Author) "When I begin to work on a play, I start with a deep, formless hunch which is like a smell, a color, a shadow..." (more)
Key Phrases: theatre research, King Lear, The Conference of the Birds, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For the ordinary theatergoer, Shakespeare has become a bit of a bore, Brook maintains. Yet the Bard's "cubism of the theater," his curious splicing of verse and prose, ought to resonate with meaning for us today. Here the well-known director explains the rationale behind his controversial productions of King Lear and Romeo and Juliet. This tapestry of essays, notes and manifestos includes a section on the international, multicultural theater group Brook organized in Paris to reinvent the sounds, gestures and scripts that he feels should animate true theater. He relives the group's three-month journey in Africa, which led to his mounting The Conference of the Birds. Another play in which ceremony and performance fuse, Brook's re-creation of the Indian epic Mahabharata, is also discussed. Several pieces on opera explore ways to revive what he considers an artificial, stagnant form. With its far-reaching perspective on avant-garde and classical theater, this journal will reward even readers who are not familiar with the works discussed.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Peter Brook is one of the giants of twentieth-century theatre, a unique 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 theatre.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155936081X
• ISBN-13: 978-1559360814
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #658,436 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)