The Art and Practice of Directing for Theatre

Chapter 12It’s Open … Now What?

Peter Brook, arguably the greatest director who has ever lived, once said of audiences: “In a sense, there is nothing a spectator can actually do. And yet there is a contradiction here that cannot be ignored, for everything depends on him.”¹ Your play, ultimately, does depend on the audience to complete the production, for without the audience, everything is just an extended rehearsal. Jerzy Grotowski has said that, for “the average theatre-goer, the theatre is first and foremost a place of entertainment.”² While Grotowski was making the point rather scornfully in the context of his book, he is, nevertheless, correct. As a director, you must remember that, while the theatre is your medium to tell stories and illuminate ...