Essay Database

"Why do we sacrifice so much energy to our art? Not in order to teach others but to learn with them what our existence, our organism, our personal and unrepeatable experience have to give us; to learn to break down the barriers which surround us and to free ourselves from the breaks which hold us back, from the lies about ourselves which we manufacture daily for ourselves and for others; to destroy the limitations caused …

…theatre engaging, an interactive, shared personal transformation. A small group of actors directed by Dr. Jacques Burdick spent over three years recreating and exploring Grotowski's ideas and techniques from 1968 to 1970. Pillory Theater created three major and several minor works utilising Grotowski's techniques, performing in the Northeast United States and in Grotowski's Wroclaw, Poland. Above all Grotowski's "poor man's theatre" is a system which enables the actor and audience to grasp a new understanding of themselves.