expert from grotowskis' "towards a poor theatre"

8/13/2019 Expert from Grotowskis' "Towards a Poor Theatre"

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Statement of Principles

Jerzy Grotowski wrote this text for internal use within hl8 Theatre Laboratory, and In partlculsrfor those actors undergoing a period of tr lal before belng acceptsd Into tho troupe in ord6r toacquaint them with the basic principles insPiring the work.Translation: Mala Buszewicz and Judy Barba.

IThe rhythmof life in modern civilisation s characterisedby pace,tension,a feeling of doom, the wish to hide our personalmotivesand the assumptionof a varlety of roles and masks in life (dlf-ferent ones with our family, at work, amongst riends or in com-munity life, etc.). We like to be scientific , by which we meandiscursive and cerebral, since this attitude is dictated by thecourse of civilisation.But we also want to pay tribute to ourbiological elves, o what we mightcal l physiological leasuree.We do not want to be restricted n this sphere.Thereforewe playa doublegameof intel lectand instinct, houghtand emotion;wotry to divide ourselvesartificially nto body and soul' When wetry to liberateourselves rom it all we staft to shout and stamp,we convulse o the rhythm of music. In our search for liberatlonwe reach biologicalchaos.We suffer most from a lack of totallty,throwing ourselvesaway, squanderingourselves.Theatre through he actor's echnique,his art in which the livlngorganism strives for higher motives - provides an opportunltyfor what could be called integration, he discardingof masks, herevealingof the real substance:a totality of physical and montal

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react ions. his opportuni tymustbe treated n a discipl inedman-ner,with a full awarenessof the responsibilities t involves.Herewe can see the theatre's therapeutic unction for people in ourpresentday civi l isation.t is t rue hat he actor accomplisheshisact,but he canonly do so throughan encounterwith the spectator- intimately, isibly, not hiding behind a cameraman, ardrobemistress,stagedesigneror make-upgirl - in direct confrontationwith him, and somehow insteadof him' The actor's act - dis-cardinghal fmeasures,evealing, peningup, emerging rom him-self as opposed o closing up - is an invitation o the spectator.This act could be compared o an act of the most deeply rooted,genuine ove between wo humanbeings this is just a compa-rison since we can only refer to this emergence rom oneselfthroughanalogy. his act, paradoxical nd borderl ine,we cal l atotal act . n our opinion t epitomizeshe actor'sdeepestcall ing.

t lWhy do we sacrificeso much energy to our art? Not in order toteach others but to learn with them what our existence,our or -ganism,our personaland unrepeatable xperience ave to giveus: to learn o break down the barrierswhich surroundus and tofree ourselves rom the breakswhich hold us back, from the liesaboutourselveswhich we manufacture aily or ourselvesand orothers; o destroy he limitations aused by our ignorancean dlack of courage; n short , o fi l l the emptiness n us: to ful f i l our-selves.Art is neither a state of the soul (in the sense of someextraordinary, npredictablemomentof inspiration)nor a state ofman (in the sense of a professionor social unct ion).Art is aripening,an evolut ion, n upli ft ingwhich enablesus to emergefrom darkness nto a blazeof light'we fight then o discover, o experience he truth aboutourselves;to tear away the masks behind which we hide daily' We seetheatre - especially n its palpable,carnal aspect - as a place ofprovocation, challenge he actorsets himselfand also, ndirectly,other people. Theatre only has a meaning if it allows us to2s6

STATEMENTOF PRINCIPLES

transcend our stereotypedvision, our conventional eelings andcustoms,our standardsof judgement - not just for the sake ofdoing so, but so that we may experiencewhat is real and, havingalready given up all daily escapes and pretences, n a state ofcompletedefenselessness nveil,give, discoverourselves. n thisway - through shock, through the shudder which causes us todrop our daily masks and mannerisms we are able, wi thouthiding anything, o entrust ourselves to something we cannotnamebut in which live Eros and Gharitas.

il lArt cannot be bound by the laws of common morality or an ycatechism. The actor, at least in part, is creator, model an dcreationrolled into one. He must not be shamelessas that leadsto exhibitionism.He must have courage, but not merely thecourage o exhibit himself a passivecourage,we might say: thecourageof the defenseless,he courage o revealhimself.Neltherthat which touches he interior sphere,nor the profound stripplngbare of the self should be regardedas evil so long as in the pro-cess of preparationor in the completedwork they produce an ac tof creation. f they do not come easily and if they are not signeof outburst but of mastership, hen they are creative: hey revealand purify us while we transcendourselves. ndeed, hey improveus then.For these reasons every aspect of an actor's work dealing wlthintimate matters should be protected from incidental remarks,indiscretions, onchalance,dle commentsand okes.Thepersonalrealm - both spiritual and physical must not be swamped bytriviality, he sordidnessof life and lack of tact towards oneeelfand others; at least not in the place of work or anywhere con-nectedwith it. This postulatesounds ike an abstractmoral order.It is not. lt involves he very essenceof the actor's calllng.Thlecalling s realized hrough carnality.The actor must not lllurtratobut accomplish n act of the soul by meansof his own organl8m.Thushe is faced with two extremealternatives: e can elther esll,

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dishonour,his real incarnate self, making himself an object ofartistic prostitution;or he can give himself,sanctifyhis real in -carnate self.IVAn actor can only be guided and inspired by someone who iswhole-heartedn his creativeactivity.The producer,while guidingand inspiring he actor,must at the same ime allow himself o beguided and inspired by him. lt is a question of freedom, part-nership,and this does not imply a lack of disciplinebut a respectfor the autonomyof others.Respect or the actor'sautonomydoesnot mean awlessness,ackof demands, everendingdiscussionsand the replacementof action by continuousstreamsof words.On the contrary, espect or autonomymeansenormousdemands,the expectation of a maximumcreative effort and the most perso-nal revelation.understoodthus,solicitude or the actor's freedomcan only be born rom the plenitude f the guide and not from hi slack of plenitude.Such a lack implies imposition,dictatorship,superficialdressage.VAn act of creationhas nothing o do with either externalcomfortor conventionalhumancivility; that is to say, working conditionsin which everybody s happy. t demandsa maximumof silenceand a minimumof words. ln this kind of creativity we discussthrough proposals,actionsand living organisms,not through ex -

planations.When we finally find ourselveson the track of some-thing difficult and often almost intangible,we have no right tolose it through rivolity and carelessness. herefore,even duringbreaksafterwhichwe will be continuingwith the creativeprocess,we are obliged to obserue certain natural reticences n our be-haviourand even in our privateaffairs.This applies ust as muchto our own work as to the work of our partners. We must notinterruptand disorganize he work becausewe are hurrying o ourown affairs; we must not peep, commentor make okes about itprivately. n any case, private ideas of fun have no place in the258

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actor's calling. n our approach o creative asks, even if th etheme s a game,we must be in a stateof readiness ono mlghteven say solemnity .our working erminologywhich servesa8a stimulusmust not be dissociated rom the work and used In aprivatecontext.work terminologyshouldbe associatedonly wlththat which it serves.A creativeact of this quality is performed n a group, and there-fore within certain imitswe should estrainour creativeegolsm.An actor has no right o mouldhis partnerso as to providegreaterpossibil it ies or his own performance.Nor has he the right tocorrecthis partnerunlessauthorized y the work leader. ntimateor drastic elements n the work of others are untouchableandshould not be commentedupon even in their absence.privateconflicts, quarrels,sentiments, nimosit iesare unavoidable nany humangroup. t is our duty towards creation o keep them Incheck n so far as they mightdeformand wreck the work process.We are obliged o open ourselvesup even towardsan enemy.

VIIt has been mentioned everal imes already,but we can neverstress and explain oo often the fact that we must never exploitprivatelyanythingconnectedwith the creative act: i. e. location.costume, props, an element from the acting score, a melodlctheme or lines from the text. This rule applies o the smallestdetailand there can be no exceptions.we did not make this rulesimply to pay tribute to a special artistic devotion.we are no tinterested n grandeurand noble words, but our awareness ndexperience ell us that lack of strict adherence to such rulescauses he actor's score to becomedeprivedof its psychic mo-tives and radiance .vt lorder and harmony n the work of each actor are essentialcondi-tions without which a creative act cannot take place. Here wedemandconsistency.we demand t from the actors who come to

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the theatre consciously o try themselvesout in something ex-treme, a sort of challengeseeking a total response rom everyone of us.They come o test themselves n something ery definitethat reaches eyond he meaning f theatre and s more ike anact of l iv ingand way of ex is tence. his out l ineprobablysoundsrathervague. f we try to explain t theoretically,we might say thatthe theatreand actingare for us a kind of vehicleal lowingus toemerge from ourselves, o ful f i l ourselves'We could go intothis at great length.However,anyonewho stays here longer hanjust the trial period is perfectly aware that what we are talkingabout can be grasped ess through grandiosewords than throughdetai ls , emandsand the rigoursof work in al l i ts elements. heindiv idualwho disturbs he basic elements,who does not forexample especthis own and the others' acting score,destroyingits structureby shammingor automatic eproduction, s the veryone who shakes his undefinable igher motiveof our commonactiv i ty .Seemingly smal l detai ls form the backgroundagainstwhich undamental uestionsare decided,as for example he dutyto note down elementsdiscovered n the course of the work. Wemust not rely on our memoryunlesswe feel the spontaneity f ou rwork is being threatened,and even then we must keep a partialrecord. This is just as basic a rule as is strict punctuality, hethorough memorizingof the text, etc. Any form of shamming none's work is completely nadmiss ib le. owever t does some-t imeshappen hatan actor has o go througha scene, ust out l inei t , n order o check ts organizat ion nd he elements f his par t-ners' actions.But even then he must follow the actionscarefully,measuringhimselfagainst hem, in order to comprehend heirmotives.This is the di f ference etweenoutl in ingand shamming.An actor mustalwaysbe ready o join the creativeact at the exactmoment determinedby the group. In th is respect his heal th,physicalcondi t ionand al l his pr ivateaffa irscease o be just hisown concern. A creative act of such quality flourishes only ifnourishedby the l iv ing organism.Thereforewe are obl iged totake daily care of our bodiesso we are alwaysready or our tasks'260

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We must not go short of sleep or the sake of private enjoymentand then come to work tired or with a hangover.We must notcome unable to concentrate.The rule here is not just one'scompulsorypresence n the placeof work, but physical eadinessto create.

villCreativity, especially where acting is concerned, s boundlesss incer i ty ,yet disc ip l ined: .e. ar t iculated hrough signs. Th ecreator should not therefore find his material a barrier in thisrespect.And as the actor's material s his own body, it should betrained to obey, to be pliable, o respond passively to psychicimpulsesas if it did not exist during the momentof creation bywhich we mean t does not offer any resistance.Spontaneityanddisciplineare the basic aspects of an actor's work and they re -quire a methodicalkey.Before a man decides o do somethinghe must first work out apoint of orientationand then act accordinglyand in a coherentmanner. his pointof or ientat ion houldbe quiteevident o him,the result of natural convictions,prior observationsand experi-ences in life. The basic foundationsof this methodconstitute orour troupe this point of orientation.Our institute is geared toexamining he consequences f th is point of or ientat ion. here-fore nobodywho comesand stays here can claim a lack of know-ledgeof the troupe'smethodical rogramme. nyonewho comesand works here and then wants to keep his distance as regardscreative consciousness)shows the wrong kind of care for hi sown indiv idual i ty. he etymologicalmeaningof indiv idual i ty s indiv is ib i l i ty which means completeexistence n something:individuality s the very opposite of half-heartedness'We main-tain, therefore, hat those who come and stay here discover inour method somethingdeeply related o them, prepared by theirl ives and experiences. ince they accept th is consciously,wepresume that each of the participants feels obliged to traincreativelyand try to form his own variation nseparable rom him-

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self,his ownreorientationpen o risksandsearch'Forwhatweherecall themethoJ;'ishe'uery pposite f anysortof prescrip-tion.IX

Themainpoint hen s thatan actorshouldnot try to acquireanykindof recipeo, UuirO p a box of tricks 'This s no place orcollecting llsortsof means f expression' he orceof gravity nour work pushes he actor towardsan interiorripeningwhichexpressestself hr;ugh a willingnesso break hroughbarriers'to searchor a summit ,or totality'Theactor's irst duty s to grasp he.fact hat nobodyherewantsto givehimanything;nsteiA hey.plano takea lot from him' otakeaway hat o *i' h he s usually eryattached: isresistance'reticence, is inclinaitn to hideb;hini masks'his half-hearted-ness, heobstactesl uoavpracesn thewayof his creative ct'hishabits ndevenhisusual goodmanners '

XBeforean actor s able o achievea total act he has to fulfil anumber f requirem nit' o* of whichareso subtle'so

intangi-ble, as to be p, ;;;li undefinablehroughwords'They onlybecome lain hroffi fiacticatapplication't is easier'however'to defineconditions nderwhicha totalact cannotbe achievedandwhichof the actor'sactionsmake t impossible'Thisact cannotexist f the actor s moreconcerned ith charm'personalsuccess,applauseand salary han with creationasunderstoodn its highest orm' t cannolexist f the actorcondi-tions it accoroingi' ihe sizeof his part,his prace n the per-formance,he dayor kindof audience' h t canbe no totalactif the actor,even *uV ftot the the.atre' issipates

is creativeimpulse nd,as * ' t l 'a before' ul l ies

t ' blocks t' particularlthrough nciOentail gug t n's of a doubtfulnatureor by thepremeditatedse of tfte creativeact as a means o furtherhisowncareer.262

expert from grotowskis' "towards a poor theatre"

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