Poor Theatre and Beyond: An Overview of Jerzy Grotowski’s Theatre
Tuğba AyganPolish theatre director and theorist Jerzy Grotowski is associated with and widely known for his noted Poor Theatre. Hence, the importance of the Poor Theatre for world theatre and Grotowski’s career cannot be denied. Nevertheless, the theatre career of the famous theorist was not limited to Poor Theatre, but diversified with different practices, although they were not as successful and long-lasting. Laying the grounds of his Poor Theatre in the Theatre of 13 Rows in the 1950s, Grotowski never followed its or any other theatre principles for a long time. Instead, he chose to develop and discover without aiming at a constant destination. This paper traces this ever-changing theatre journey of Grotowski to contribute to a better understanding of his theatre that is beyond Poor Theatre. In this respect, five different but interconnected stages of Grotowski’s theatrical life, namely Production Theatre, Paratheatre, Theatre of Sources, Objective Drama, and Theatre as a Tool, are explained with examples from the plays and projects produced by the famous director.
Yoksul Tiyatro ve Ötesi: Jerzy Grotowski’nin Tiyatrosuna Genel Bir Bakış
Tuğba AyganPolonyalı tiyatro yönetmeni ve teorisyeni Jerzy Grotowski tiyatro tarihinde iz bırakan Yoksul Tiyatro ile tanınır. Bu sebeple Yoksul Tiyatro’nun dünya tiyatrosu ve Grotowski’nin kariyeri için önemi yadsınamaz. Ancak ünlü teorisyenin tiyatro kariyeri yalnızca Yoksul Tiyatro ile sınırlı kalmamış her ne kadar onun kadar başarılı ve uzun soluklu olmasa da farklı pratiklerle çeşitlenmiştir. 1950li yıllarda 13 Sıralı Tiyatro’da Yoksul Tiyatro’nun temellerini atan fakat daha sonra ne bu tiyatronun ne de bir başka bir tiyatro pratiğinin uzun süre üzerinde ısrar etmeyen Grotowski, daimi bir fikre ulaşmak yerine tiyatro anlayışını sürekli olarak geliştirip değiştirmeyi seçmiştir. Bu çalışmanın amacı Yoksul Tiyatro’nun yanı sıra diğer tiyatro fikirlerinden hareketle teorisyenin devamlı değişen tiyatro yolculuğunun izini sürmektir. Bu doğrultuda Grotowski’nin tiyatro yaşamının birbirinden farklı ancak birbiriyle bağlantılı beş aşaması olan 1957-1969 yılları arasındaki Üretim (Performans) Tiyatrosu, 1970-1976 yılları arasında Paratiyatro olarak da tanımlayacağı Katılım Tiyatrosu, 1976-1982 yılları arasında Kaynaklar Tiyatrosu, 1983-1989 tarihleri arasında Objektif Drama ve son dönem projesi Bir Araç olarak Tiyatro (Ritüel Sanatlar), yönettiği oyunlardan ve projelerden örneklerle açıklanmaktadır.
One of the pioneers of the 20th-century avant-garde theatre is undoubtedly the Polish theatre director and theorist Jerzy Grotowski. The fame of the director, who started his theatre career in the Theatre of 13 Rows, a small theatre of the period, exceeded the borders of his country and time. Even though he is justifiably associated with and widely known for his Poor Theatre, attesting to a performance style aiming at purifying itself from unnecessary elements and all the excesses such as elaborate makeup, costume, language, or props, Grotowski had developed and changed paradigms of his theatre throughout his career, introducing new insights into the performative arts.
It is possible to examine Grotowski’s understanding of theatre, which he developed by constantly changing it within the framework of new ideas during his theatre career of more than forty years, in five distinct phases. These phases are respectively Production (Performance) Theatre between 1957-1969 when Poor Theatre was conceptualized; Participation Theatre or Paratheatre between 1970-1976; Theatre of Sources between 1976-1982; Objective Drama between 1983-1989; and his latest project Theatre as a Tool or Ritual Arts. As the diversity of theatre practices shows, Grotowski did not remain indifferent to the dynamics of life and its demanding nature and instead of adopting an orthodox attitude, he chose to constantly update his understanding of theatre.
Grotowski achieved global fame after the publication of the book Towards a Poor Theatre which he published in collaboration with his fellow theatre practitioners such as Eugenio Barba and Ludwik Flazsen. In the book, while he conceptualizes his poor theatre, Grotowski also brings strong criticisms to the theatre of the time that he labels as ‘rich theatre’ which is rich in faults as he puts it. He also propagates the need for a theatre that is cleansed of other arts, fed by the very primitive roots of theatre itself. Between 1957-1969 Grotowski directed plays from Polish, Indian, and English Literature that were reworked in line with the tenets of Poor Theatre. Among others, an adaptation of the Indian tale Shakuntala, Stanislaw Wyspianski’s Akropolis, and Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus became the epitomes of his Poor Theatre.
In the second phase of his theatre career, Participation Theatre which is also labelled as Paratheare, Grotowski completely removed the distinction between auditorium and stage that he had already blurred in the early stages of Poor Theatre. Bringing people from different cultures and backgrounds together, Grotowski aimed at creating an ‘encounter’ that he defined as the essence of theatre. Following Paratheatre activities, Grotowski shifted his focus to Theatre of Sources in which he worked with a multi-national group of 36 people from various countries. Using ‘source techniques’, he aimed at stripping away elements that various cultures imposed and reaching the source of life. Soon after the Theatre of Sources, Grotowski embarked on a new experiment under the title of Objective Drama by once again turning to ancient rituals of various cultures, this time, to reveal the objective impact of them on the participants of the projects. While his Objective Drama project was still in progress, as of 1985 Grotowski already planted the seeds of a new idea which was Art as a Vehicle. Marking the final stage of his theatre life, Art as a Vehicle, as the name suggests, enunciated the idea that art itself is not an aim or a product of a process but rather a means to discover during execution.
As the variety of his activities suggests, Grotowski never stuck to any idea for a long time. Instead, he kept updating himself and his theatre carrying it beyond Poor Theatre. This paper aims to trace five phases of Grotowski’s theatre career by reflecting on examples from his projects and practices.
