His book, The Empty Space, talks about how not to fall into a trap, say Chandigarh-based theatre directors as they remember Peter Brook

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Mona

Dr Faustus for a debut direction when barely a teen; performing Midsummer Night’s Dream under a circus tent with trapeze artistes to directing The Mahabharata with international artistes at Avignon against the backdrop of a stone quarry in France; Peter Brook, director, changed the lingo of theatre forever.

A revered figure in the world of theatre, he bid goodbye to this world in Paris on Saturday. The English theatre and film director travelled across the world, gathering experiences, creating plays and movies, winning awards and honours, including Emmy Award for La tragédie de Carmen (1984), International Emmy Award for The Mahabharata (1990) and Padma Shri (2021).

Theatre directors talk of how Peter Brook touched their creative journey and his book The Empty Space, which is considered the Bible of theatre by many across the world, shaped their sensibility.

He taught us to take risk, to jump off the cliff

Peter Brook was one of the most powerful influencers on Indian theatre cutting across cultural, geographical barriers. His book The Empty Space talks about how not to fall into a trap, not to treat text as a holy cow, to use your own imagination to interpret, conceptualise and claim it. In 1981, he came to Bhopal at Bharat Bhavan where I was working. That was before he recreated The Mahabharata. He came looking for images, smells, sounds and actors, just to explore the land where the Mahabharata emerged. I also had a chance to watch his The Mahabharata in 1985 at Avignon against the backdrop of a stone quarry. This larger-than-life cosmic drama came alive with simple props – a wheel going across the stage, actors dressed in angrakhas. It was a magnificent, overwhelming nine-hour-long production that started at the sunset and got over at the sunrise with birds chirping. As the whole epic drama unfolded, it was such a spiritual experience life, absolutely unforgettable.

– Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry

Brook redefined the way of thinking about theatre

Peter Brook was one of theatre’s most visionary and influential thinkers. He wrote several publications, including The Empty Space, the opening of which outlined his vision. Brook examined the purpose of theatre, a phase of what came to be called inter-cultural theatre that culminated in his famous adaptation of the Mahabharata. His death is a huge loss for world theatre. He will be always remembered for his unique vision, his philosophy about theatre and its practices.

— Navdeep Kaur

Minimalism is an end product and not the starting point

Reading The Empty Space by Peter Brooks and listening to his talks on YouTube has been a big part of my learning. One can only imagine how magical must have been the nine- hour-long production of The Mahabharata with a cast of actors from different countries. Nothing like that was ever attempted again. I highly recommend the documentary Brook by Brook available online.

— Zubin Mehta

His thoughts on theatre will always guide me

Back when I was active in theatre, I recall watching Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata televised series and being astounded by how he simply made the epic universal by casting an international cast. He was a pioneer, and I will always find his thoughts on theatre and filmmaking to be useful. His teachings are a constant companion in my journey.

– Anmol Sidhu