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Conversation 1 - Grotowski’s Idea About Theater

Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and a theater professor.

Student: Hi, Professor Johns.

Professor: Hey, didn’t I see you at the performance of Crimes of the Heart last night?

Student: Yeah. Actually my roommate had a small part in it.

Professor: Really? I was impressed with the performance. There sure are some talented people here. What did you think?

Student: You know, Beth Henley is an okay playwright. She has written some decent stuff, but it was a little too traditional, a little too ordinary, especially considering the research I’m doing.

Professor: Oh, what’s that?

Student: On the Polish theater director Jerzy Grotowski.

Professor: Grotowski. Yeah, that’s a little out of the mainstream. Pretty experimental.

Student: That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I had a question about our essay and presentation.

Professor: Okay.

Student: Yeah. Some of these ideas, uh, Grotowski’s ideas are really hard to understand. They are very abstract, philosophical. And, well, I thought the class would get more out of it if I acted out some of it to demonstrate.

Professor: Interesting idea. And what happens to the essay?

Student: Well, I will do the best I can with that, but supplement it with a performance. You know, bring it to life.

Professor: Alright. But what exactly are we talking about here? Grotowski, as I’m sure you know, had several phases in his career.

Student: I’m mainly interested in his idea from the late 1960’s: poor theater. You know, a reaction against a lot of props, light, fancy costumes, and all that. So it would be good for the classroom. I wouldn’t need anything special.

Professor: Yes. I’m sure a lot of your classmates are unfamiliar with Grotowski.

This would be good for them.

Student: Right. And this leads…I think there’s overlap between his poor theater phase and another phase of his, when he was concerned with the relationship between performers and the audience. I also want to read more and write about that.

Professor: You know, I saw a performance several years ago. It really threw me for a loop. You know, you are used to just watching a play, sitting back, but this performance, borrowing Grotowski’s principles, was really confrontational, a little uncomfortable. The actors looked right in our eyes, even moved us around, involved us in the action.

Student: Yeah. I hope I can do the same when I perform for the class. I’m a bit worried since the acting is so physical. That there’s so much physical preparation involved.

Professor: Well, some actors spend their whole lives working on this, so don’t expect to get very far in a few weeks, but I’m sure you can bring a couple of points across. And if you need some extra class time, let me know.

Student: No. I think I can fit it into the regular time for the presentation.

Professor: Okay. I think this will provide for some good discussion about these ideas and other aspects of the audience and their relationship to theatrical productions.