Towards a Poor Theatre

Jerzy Grotowski

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781136745850
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

Originally published in 1968, Jerzy Grotowski's groundbreaking book is available once again. As a record of Grotowski's theatrical experiments, this book is an invaluable resource to students and theater practioners alike.

Actor’s Training (1959–1962)

The exercises in this chapter are the result of work and research during the years 1959-62. They were recorded by Eugenio Barba during the period he spent at the Theatre Laboratory and supplemented by my comments and those of our instructors who, under my guidance, directed the training.

During this time, I was searching for a positive technique or, in other words, a certain method of training capable of objectively giving the actor a creative skill that was rooted in his imagination and his personal associations. Certain elements from these exercises were retained in the training during the period that followed, but their aim has changed. All the exercises which merely constituted an answer to the question: “How can this be done?” were eliminated. The exercises have now become a pretext for working out a personal form of training. The actor must discover those resistances and obstacles which hinder him in his creative task. Thus the exercises become a means of overcoming these personal impediments. The actor no longer asks himself: “How can I do this?”. Instead, he must know what not to do, what obstructs him. By a personal adaptation of the exercises, a solution must be found for the elimination of these obstacles which vary for each individual actor.

This is what I mean by via negativa: a process of elimination. The difference between the training of 1959-62 and the subsequent phase is most marked in the physical and vocal exercises. Most of the basic elements of the physical exercises have been retained, but they have been orientated towards a quest for contact: the receiving of stimuli from the exterior and reaction to these (the process of “give and take” mentioned elsewhere). The resonators are still used in the vocal exercises, but these are now set in action through various types of impulses and contact with the exterior.

In theory, there are no breathing exercises. I have explained my reasons for eliminating these in “The Techniques of the Actor” (page 207). According to each individual case, one discovers the difficulties in question, determining their cause and thereafter eradicating them. We do not work directly with respiration, but correct it indirectly by means of individual exercises which are almost always of a psycho-physical nature.

Jerzy Grotowski.

The training consists of exercises worked out by the actors or adopted from other systems. Even those exercises which are not the result of the actor’s personal research have been developed and elaborated in order to satisfy the precise aims of the method. The terminology pertaining to the chosen exercises is then altered. Once the actors adopt a given exercise, they themselves establish a name for it on the basis of personal associations and ideas. One tends consciously to use a kind of professional jargon since this has a stimulating effect on the imagination. The following is a rough outline of a day’s training.

A. PHYSICAL EXERCISES

I	– Warming up

1)Rhythmical walking while the arms and hands rotate.

2)Running on tiptoe. The body must feel a sensation of fluidity, flight, weightlessness. The impulse for the run comes from the shoulders.

3)Walk with knees bent, hands on hips.

4)Walk with knees bent, gripping the ankles.

5)Walk with the knees slightly bent, the hands touching the outside edges of the feet.

6)Walk with the knees slightly bent, holding the toes with one’s fingers.

7)Walk with the legs stretched and rigid as though they were being pulled by imaginary strings held by the hands (the arms stretched out in front).

8)Starting in a curled up position, take short jumps forward, always landing in the original curled up position with the hands beside the feet.

Note: Even during these warming up exercises the actor must justify every detail of this training with a precise image, whether real or imaginary. The exercise is correctly executed only if the body does not oppose any resistance during the realisation of the image in question. The body should therefore appear weightless, as malleable as plasticine to the impulses, as hard as steel when acting as a support, capable even of conquering the law of gravity.

II–	Exercises to loosen up the muscles and the vertebral column

1)“The cat”. This exercise is based on the observation of a cat as it awakes and stretches itself. The subject lies stretched out face downwards, completely relaxed. The legs are apart and the arms at right angles to the body, palms towards the floor. The “cat” wakes up and draws the hands in towards the chest, keeping the elbows upwards, so that the palms of the hands form a basis for support. The hips are raised, while the legs “walk” on tiptoe towards the hands. Raise and stretch the left leg sideways, at the same time lifting and stretching the head. Replace the left leg on the ground, supported by the tips of the toes. Repeat the same movements with the right leg, the head still stretching upwards. Stretch the spine, placing the centre of gravity first in the centre of the spine, and then higher up towards the nape of the neck. Then turn over and fall onto the back, relaxing.

2)Imagine you have a metal band around the chest. Stretch it by means of a vigorous expansion of the trunk.

3)Handstand with the feet together against the wall. The legs slowly open as wide as possible.

4)Resting position. Squatting with the head dropped forward and the arms dangling between the knees.

5)Upright position, with the legs together and straight. Flex the trunk towards the ground until the head touches the knees.

6)Vigorous rotation of the trunk from the waist upwards.

7)Keeping the legs together, jump up onto a chair. The impulse for the jump does not come from the legs but from the trunk.

8)Total or partial splits.

9)Starting from an upright position, bend the body backwards to form a “bridge”until the hands touch the ground behind.

10)Lying position stretched out on one’s back. Roll the whole body vigorously to left and right.

11)From a kneeling position, bend the body backwards into a “bridge” until the head touches the ground.

12)Jumps imitating those of a kangaroo.

13)Sit on the floor with the legs together and stretched out in front, the body erect. The hands, placed at the back of the neck, press the head forward and downwards until it touches the knees.

14)Walk on the hands and feet, with the chest and abdomen facing upwards.

Note: It is equally incorrect to perform this series of exercises in an inanimate way. The exercise serves the research. It is not merely automatic repetition or a form of muscular massage. For example, during the exercises one investigates the body’s centre of gravity, the mechanism for the contraction and relaxation of the muscles, the function of the spine in the various violent movements, analysing any complicated developments and relating them to the repertory of every single joint and muscle. All this is individual and is the result of continual and total research. Only the exercises which “investigate” involve the entire organism of the actor and mobilise his hidden resources. The exercises which “repeat” give inferior results.

III –

“Upside-down” exercises

Note: These exercises are positions rather than acrobatics and, in accordance with the rules of Hatha Yoga, they are performed at a very slow pace. One of the principal aims during their execution is the study of the changes which take place in the organism; namely, the study of the respiration, the rhythm of the heart, the laws of balance and the relationship between position and movement.

1)Headstand using the forehead and both hands as supports.

2)Headstand – Hatha Yoga position.

3)Headstand supported by the left (or right) shoulder, cheek and arm.

4)Headstand supported by the forearms.

IV –

Flight

1)Squatting on the heels in a curled up position, hop and sway like a bird ready to take flight. The hands help the movement as wings.

2)Still hopping, raise yourself into an upright position, while the hands flap like wings in an effort to lift the body.

3)Take off in flight with successive forward movements somewhat similar to the action of swimming. While the body is carrying out these swimming movements, there is only one point of contact with the ground (e. g. the ball of one foot). Take swift leaps forward, still on the ball of one foot. Another method is as follows: recall to mind the flying sensation one experiences in dreams and spontaneously recreate this form of flight.

4)Land like a bird.

Note: Combine these exercises with others based on falls, somersaults, leaps, etc. One should aim at ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Information
• Preface
• Towards a Poor Theatre
• The Theatre’s New Testament
• Theatre is an Encounter
• Akropolis: Treatment of the Text
• Dr Faustus: Textual Montage
• The Constant Prince
• He Wasn’t Entirely Himself
• Methodical Exploration
• Actor’s Training (1959-1962)
• Actor’s Training (1966)
• The Actor’s Technique
• Skara Speech
• American Encounter
• Statement of Principles