 |
| Albus Dumbledore |
Now, what can a man influenced by both Stanislavski and Brecht (and Meyerhold!) come up with? As it turns out, something quite good indeed.
Grotowski- phew, what a name. Can we call him Jerzy instead? Right, Jerzy was born in Poland and he is best known for his creation of 'poor theatre', so named for it is quite literally an inexpensive process, focusing on the skill of the actor and disregarding the 'lavish' costumes and sets. Immediately, his influences are clear. It's Stanislavski acting in a Brechtian setting, right? Let's just hope no Meyerhold backflips are involved.
Now, Jerzy's 'poor theatre' wasn't just a way of stripping the excess for ease. No, he truly believed theatre should be a process proved through poverty, for he thought it could never beat the technological advances of film and TV. In other words, theatre wasn't spectacular so it shouldn't pretend to be. Cheery.
Now, this idea is where I feel the problems arise. Why make something with the aim to make it... just alright? Yes, the performance is meant to be a raw emotional display, but it can be viewed as amateur for its plain and in-complex ideas. Of course, like with Artaud, I shouldn't critisice something for being what it's meant to be, and Jerzy Grotowski did want his theatre to be about the simplest of human feelings that we might normally keep close and not reveal. In this sense, he was an excellent teacher of naturalistic acting, because naturalism is about these emotions we can all relate to and feel. It's about quite literally showing the audience someone else. Of course, stripping away factors like common use of props and set disadvantage this realism in the sense of making it true to the real world, but I think they might actually heighten the reality.
Jerzy's techniques force the unaltered, bare story to emerge from something, even if in a dramatized physical manner. Watching examples of 'poor theatre' is a fast way of seeing the Meyerhold influence, but it isn't overdone and usually allows something traumatic and unwatchable like a killing or an assault occur with a simple push or shove. It quickens the pace and gets to the point, without having to show us a crime we probably don't want or need to see in order to still get the message.
To conclude, 'poor theatre' is accessible, used in schools commonly for its lack of set and equipment that may be hard to find. It evokes emotion, raw and loud and done right, I think it is a very useful tool. Whilst Jerzy's work didn't reach far in his time, it's clearly influenced many classes, productions and ideas since, having an impact on the whole history of theatre. His work was intense because there wasn't anything to bring an actor up but the actor themself. And it is for that reason, that it is my favourite style thus far and goes to the top of my very unserious chart.
-BEST-
GROTOWSKI - 'POOR THEATRE'
ARTAUD - 'THEATRE OF CRUELTY'
MEYERHOLD - 'BIOMECHANICS'
-WORST-
In the next post, I'm hoping to locate a female practitioner's work to better even the playing field. Will the upwards spiral continue? Find out in the next post. *superhero music*
