No real hope in making changes through the theatre, even to Peter Brook’s mindset, and, certainly an excuse for not stopping things like misogyny, racism, the psychiatric regime, through a production, but rather perpetuating ridiculous stereotypes through Peter Weiss Marat/Sade productions. P111, ‘In most regimes, even when written word is free, it is still the stage that is liberated last. Instinctively governments know that the living event could create a dangerous electricity – even if we see this happen all too seldom.’

Over the next several years, Brook directed both theater and opera, as well as designing the sets and costumes for his productions. He eventually grew disillusioned with opera, calling it "deadly theater." He directed prominent actors, including Laurence Olivier in Titus Andronicus and Paul Schofeld in a filmed King Lear. He also directed a film adaptation of Lord of the Flies. In 1962, he was named a director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. If you enjoyed The Empty Space, you might like John Berger's Ways of Seeing, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. This is a brilliant book, and should be read by many besides the passionate few to whom it will be required reading.” –W. A. Darlington, The Daily Telegraph (London)

Customer reviews

Bowie-Sell, Daisy (31 October 2017). "Peter Brook Empty Space Awards to end as 2017 winners announced". What's On Stage . Retrieved 7 October 2019. A classic...a hugely influential analysis of the problems confronting contemporary theatre. It's a powerful expression of the belief that it is performance, not a play text in the abstract, that is the essence of stage art." –Paul Taylor, The Independent Giorgetti, Sandra (9 November 2014). "Empty Space... Peter Brook Awards 2014". British Theatre Guide . Retrieved 25 September 2021. In The Empty Space, groundbreaking director Peter Brook draws on a life in love with the stage to explore the issues facing any theatrical performance. Here he describes important developments in theatre from the last century, as well as smaller scale events, from productions by Stanislavsky to the rise of Method Acting, from Brecht's revolutionary alienation technique to the free form Happenings of the 1960s, and from the different styles of such great Shakespearean actors as John Gielgud and Paul Scofield to a joyous impromptu performance in the burnt-out shell of the Hamburg Opera just after the war. Passionate, unconventional and fascinating, his book shows how theatre defies rules, builds and shatters illusions and creates lasting memories for its audiences.

In this seminal and iconoclastic book, groundbreaking director and cofounder of the Royal Shakespeare Company Peter Brook draws on a life in love with the stage to explore the issues facing a theatrical performance. He describes important developments in theatre from the last century, as well as smaller scale events, from productions by Stanislavsky to the rise of Method Acting, from Brecht’s revolutionary alienation technique to the free form Happenings of the 1960s, and from the different styles of such great Shakespearean actors as John Gielgud and Paul Scofield to a joyous impromptu performance in the burnt-out shell of the Hamburg Opera just after the war. Along the way, Brook provides theatre-makers with an indispensable guide to creating exhilarating and fresh performances. A brilliant book ... should be read by the many besides the passionate few to whom it will be required reading'It's a book about the current state of theater, written in 1968. As I was born in 1984, the author has literally no knowledge of any performance I have ever seen in my life, nor have I seen any of the performances he describes. So it's hard to relate his opinions about the state of theater to today, not knowing if I agree with his assessment of 1968. Empty Space… Peter Brook Awards – Winners 2010". Westendtheatre.com. 2 November 2010 . Retrieved 25 September 2021. The Empty Space is a 1968 book by the British director Peter Brook examining four modes or points of view on theatre: Deadly; Holy; Rough; and Immediate. It is very much a sales spiel, and, the author admits to making up 'successful productions' that didn't actually happen, when he first started directing theatre. It's on this basis, you've got to regard Peter Brook's enthusiasm and social activism, as spin, and his text, has to be regarded as rather blatantly misogynist, in its male-focused momentum. Peter Brook's parents were immigrant scientists from Russia. A precocious child with a distaste for formal education but a love of learning, Brook performed his own four-hour version of Shakespeare's Hamlet at the age of seven. After spending two years in Switzerland recovering from a glandular infection, Brook became one of the youngest undergraduates at Oxford University. At the same time he directed his first play in London, a production of Marlowe's Dr. Faustus. Brook made his directing debut at the Stratford Theatre at the age of 21, with a production of Love's Labours Lost.

Although the boundary between these four isn't always clear, it does seem to me that if you think of them as four overlapping circles*, rather than four squares with a clear division between them, then it does make a deal of sense. And, I think, this is a very interesting perspective to bring to the world of work, and of our lives. Experiences where advertising seeks to create false "deadly" aspirations, moments in nature that are "holy", or when we find flow in a "rough" DIY task, or when our interactions with a child are "immediate". Brook, Peter (1968). The Empty Space: A Book About the Theatre: Deadly, Holy, Rough, Immediate. ISBN 978-0-684-82957-9 A timeless classic on the art of theatre from the most influential stage director of the twentieth century. Empty Space… Peter Brook Awards – Winners 2013". Westendtheatre.com. 5 November 2013 . Retrieved 25 September 2021. Having seen Brook's televised "The Tragedy of Hamlet," and his filmed version of "King Lear," not to mention, the idea of his most recent "Love is My Sin," I take his word for what it is: clear thoughts from one perspective of what the theater could be, how it should be, and what is should not be.

Select a format:

Empty Space… Peter Brook Awards – Winners 2012". Westendtheatre.com. 6 November 2012 . Retrieved 25 September 2021. Kustow, Michael (2006). Peter Brook: a biography. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 153. ISBN 0-7475-7913-X. Since there is no one on the theatrical scene quite like Brook, there is no other book quite like this one. A must for any and every college library." – Choice I think I read this chap-book manifesto 25 years ago. I know it was talked about a great deal by teachers of drama who got their degrees/ diplomas in the 1970s. The parts of the book which I enjoyed without reservation were Brook’s brief but marvelous analyses of Shakespeare’s King Lear and Measure for Measure, two plays of which he has made outstandingly the best production of our day.” –Tyrone Guthrie, The Minneapolis Star