Peter Brook, one of the most influential theater directors of the 20th century, died yesterday at the age of 98.
He was in Belgrade several times.
As early as January 1957, his "King Lear" with Paul Scofield in the lead role, 1962 "Titus Andronicus" with Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier,
Then his performances came because of Bitef, the truth is only in the seventh year of this festival. At Bitef we watched "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in 1972, "Tribe Ik", 1976, and "Sizwe Banzi is Dead", at the 40th Bitef in 2006.
Borka Pavićević, part of the first decades of this festival, remembering the first half century of Bitef, told (Time no. 1342) "jury deliberations due to A Midsummer Night's Dream Peter Brook, because the decision to award Brook was not unanimous (Dušan Makavejev and Bogdan Tirnanić). A magnificent performance, but the question is to what extent it is exploratory. A few years later, Peter Brook answered that question best when he did something quite the opposite: it was a play Tribe Ik which he did with the Aboriginal people. A complete turnaround, worthy of him."
He himself said about Bitef: "When I hear Bitef, memories of people, experiments and successes come to my mind."
In the Shakespeare festival that is currently being held in Chortanovci, they keep a letter of support from Peter Brook "Shakespeare is a phenomenon, like the sun or the moon, and it cannot be explained in words."
Peter Brook is British, but he spent most of his career in France, where at the head of his Parisian theater Le Bouffes du Nord he reexamined the theatrical form marked by the theory of "empty space".
The cult artist, who directed more than 100 plays, is considered an icon of avant-garde theater. His most famous play is "Mahabharata" about the Indian epic of nine hours (1985), it was adapted for film in 1989.
In the 1990s when he triumphed in the UK with Samuel Beckett's Wonderful Days, critics hailed him as the best director London had.
The director has always refused the label of engaged theater, but always repeats that his plays are intended for self-reflection and spiritual development. He directed until recently.
S.Ć./BBC/
