Special Mention: National Theatre, National Theatre of Scotland, Paines Plough, Forest Fringe, Artichoke.
PETER BROOK’s SPEECH at the Empty Space... Peter Brook Awards 2008
Not long ago, a distinguished critic – perhaps he’s here today – wrote, after I
brought a new production to London « When we came into the theatre we saw an
empty space. YAWN!” I always take critics seriously yet here we are again
giving awards to empty spaces. It’s surely time to take a new look at these two
simple words. At first, they seemed to apply to the place where we play, our
play-ground. Tradition and long standing habits had filled this with clutter,
too much imagery, too many decorations, an excess of furniture and props. They
clogged the imagination. Emptiness was a starting point, not for its own sake,
but to help to discover each time what was really essential to support the
richness of the actor’s words and presence. Today, this battle has largely been
won, although electronic shapes and sounds are now eager to rush in. But the
clutter is more hidden, it’s within the themes themselves – and within the
actor. Anger, violence, hysteria, disgust and despair – these are so real that
they must be expressed, powerfully, passionately. But light on a jet black
screen only reflects blackness. It’s in the negative that an empty space has to
be found. Today, emptiness is an uncomfortable challenge to the director and
the writer, as well as to the actor. Can a space be left open, beyond all one
thinks, believes and wishes to assert? Every page of Beckett’s plays is
lightened with brackets enclosing the word ‘Pause’. Chekhov indicated the space
in which the inexpressible could appear with three dots. And Shakespeare
surrounded every line with space. Theatre exists so that the unsaid can
breathe, can be heard and a quality of life can be sensed that gives a motive
to the endless struggle. The finest expression of emptiness is silence. There
are rare moments in theatre when a deep feeling shared by actors and audience
draws all into a living silence. This is the rare, the ultimate empty space.
Peter Brook, Paris, 4.11.08