Jerzy Grotowski's concept of 'disarming' and his practice in 'theatre of productions' and 'art as vehicle'

Abstract

The contribution of Polish director and pedagogue Jerzy Grotowski to theatre pedagogy is considered by many to be fundamental to the world of performance. Influenced by theatre masters such as Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Vakhtangov, Dullin, Delsarte as well as by Asian theatre traditions such as Indian Kathakali, Peking Opera and Japanese Noh, Grotowski opened further vistas and possibilities for the manifestation of creativity. Since his introduction in 1957 to the realm of performing arts, his aim was to liberate the artist from those hindrances that are stopping him from achieving a creative act. The identity of Grotowski's work throughout his diverse phases emerges as being focused on the performer's search upon himself Grotowski directs the performer not to learn and collect skills with which he can patch together a work of art. Rather, he enters into a close encounter with the performer, where he facilitates the performer's process in eliminating that which is superfluous, and therefore, that which acts as a barrier from one's creative essence. This essence, therefore, appears as lying not in outer forces such as literary texts or elaborate costumes, but within the performer's corporeal abilities. These abilities, often enough, are not tapped by the performer as they are concealed behind or suppressed by the daily routine of social life. Through technical work on his organicity, the performer disarms this daily way of being, in an open encounter with other forces. Grotowski's work is thus of a major impact on the art of the theatre in its emphasis that the artist has to shed that mask in which he presents himself in daily social circumstances, in order to discover himself. His work is therefore often considered as constituting an attack on mainstream culture. His attack goes beyond the criticism of dilettante theatre making, to a criticism of a superficial way of living. This is clearly evident in his inclination towards a 'poor theatre', an assertive stand against the actor's art taking the easy way out in a consumerist manner. His ethics refuse a 'produce and consume' attitude and environment. He speaks against the 'tourist mentality' whereby one moves from one project of work to another without ever going deeply into one's work. He wants a work dynamic which 'digs' deep, a research of a 'vertical' nature. In an era characterised by a shift from common spiritual values to an individual striving for meaning, Grotowski tells the individual to fight against the hurried impatient rush for a final result, the superficiality of mass culture, and encounter himself and others in a deeper and finer state of relationships.