What is Grotowski known for?
Jerzy Grotowski was a theatre director, educator and creator of acting methods. He was born in 1933 in Rzeszów in Poland and died in 1999 in Pontedera, Italy. He is considered to have been one of the great reformers of 20th century theatre. He was known for his intense actor training in Poland in the 1960s and 1970s.
What is the Grotowski method?
In his method, Grotowski experienced the so-called “physiological resonators”. He asked the actors to bring out the voice from their back and their necks and from their limbs. Then, in order to stimulate the voice, he asked them to choose a text and to play, sing and shout it (Richards, 1995).
Who influenced Grotowski?
PC: What were his early influences? PA: There are lots of routes into Grotowski’s work. One is his connection with Stanislavski. In 1955, he was studying at GITIS in Moscow, one of the main Russian drama schools.
What techniques did Grotowski develop use?
The tenets of Grotowski’s technique include:
- Acting through focus and awareness: Students of Grotowski are taught in hyperfocus, which helps them break free from mental blocks that keep them from reaching the full potential of their performing ability.
- Human contact:
- Silence:
- Memory work:
- Voice:
- Physical training:
Who is Morena in Woza?
Morena means Lord, Master or Saviour. In this play it is used to name Jesus Christ whose Second Coming is one of the central tenets of the Christian faith and who is the subject of the ‘what if he came to South Africa’ premise of the whole play.
What is protest theater?
What Is Protest Theater? This is one particular theatrical genre that can fall into the category of political theatre. Political protest through guerrilla theater. Stunts aimed to make a political statement, political acts that rely solely on appearance.
Is Woza Albert a protest theatre?
The play is a two-man show that contains 26 vignettes. The play imagines the second coming of Jesus Christ during the apartheid-era as experienced by a variety of black South Africans. Written as a piece of protest theater, Woza Albert! sought to confront the inequalities and oppression of apartheid South Africa.
Who is Albert in Woza?
The second ”Albert” reference is to Albert Luthuli, one of the black nationalist leaders whom the unseen Morena mystically resurrects near the end of the supernatural adventure. The reference illustrates the flow of contemporary allusions that give ”Woza Albert!” its substance and relevance as political theater.
Who came up with protest theatre and why?
created by Percy Mtwa and Mbongeni Ngema in partnership with the Johannesburgs’ Market Theatre’s artistic director Barney Simon in the 1970s. It was a production about the second coming of Christ arriving in Johannesburg in a helicopter with all white characters portrayed with red clown noses.