Clara Bauer, 47, met for the first time peter brookOne of the most influential theater directors of the 20th century, when she was 19. happy ending, in Paris. Then years later, circumstances led him to work with them, as their director of production, on shows like the man who, take dress, tierno bokerAnd the tragedy of hamlet, British born visionary — who had settled in France, revived the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, won Tonys and Emmys, and was awarded the Padma Shri last year — died on July 2 at the age of 97.
“Peter is alive in my heart,” says Argento on a morning phone call from Chennai, where she is visiting her partner. , journal d’un corps, The first play I did after leaving his team was shown at the Bouffs du Nord in 2012, and he was there to see it. Now Bauer, the artistic director of Compagnie Mia, says she plans to honor him through her own work.
Clara Bauer | photo credit: special arrangement
Edited excerpts from the interview:
How did you come to work with Peter Brook?
When I joined the International Festival of Buenos Aires as its artistic advisor [for its second edition]I decided to start with A peter brook Production. I traveled to Paris and brought back 1999 The man who [ L’Homme Qui is a masterpiece based on the neurological cases in Oliver Sacks’ book, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat. Peter spent time at Centennial, a mental hospital in Paris, with his actors to study the relationship between the doctors and patients to create this piece of theatrical research.] We played 10 shows, and it was insane.
I saw firsthand the effect theater can have. It was almost like hosting a football match – the theater was packed and people were lining up outside for tickets. Peter didn’t travel for the show, but went back to the actors and told them all about it. And he wanted to meet me. we talked a lot [as a multi-linguist, he spoke in Spanish] About Argentina, his daughter Irina’s plays, etc., and he asked me if I would like to work with him. It was a ‘yes’, and I became their production director for the next decade.
Peter Brook (left) instructs his actors Romain Boehringer (right) and Ken Higelin during a rehearsal of the play storm
, photo credit: AFP
Tell us about working with Peter?
peter was always looking for [for stories, experiences, ways of expression], He traveled a lot, in different cities, and learned from everywhere. They encouraged me to make connections wherever I went, and helped me learn how to immerse myself in the life, culture, and stories of those places. A lot of people who are close to me now, I met through him. For example, I met Shantala Shivalingappa 20 years ago, when I worked with her the tragedy of hamlet, Now, she is my neighbor in Chennai.
He also taught me about life. I remember spending three hours at Ryoan-ji, a dry garden in Kyoto, Japan. There are 15 marbles, but you can only see 14 at a time. They explained how you need someone else [someone else’s perspective] To see the whole scene, on the 15th. Just like life, which is impossible to understand from just one perspective. He said that in order to get a full vision you have to be in contact with other people, find relationships and learn new interpretations.
Peter Brook (second from left) poses with his wife, actress Natasha Parry (left), Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni (second from right) and French actor Maurice Benichou (right) during a rehearsal of the play tachin-chin
, photo credit: AFP
How did he see stories and cultures through his productions?
It’s impossible to put it in one answer. Peter was very intelligent and inquisitive, with a great memory. He had no method – he would take each actor and understand their stories, their culture. He will reach inside to understand who they are and what will be best for them. a month ago when i met him [before I flew down to Chennai]we sang of violet mercury thank you for life And he knew the Spanish song – which says ‘Thanks to life that gave me all this’ – better than I did. It was Peter. He was someone who gave everything to others, who changed the lives of many.
Dancer Mallika Sarabhai (who acted in ‘Le Mahabharat’) recently wrote that Peter was of the opinion that a teacher should destroy the ‘self’ in a student and then transform the person.
Yes of course. He did not create characters, He will strip them of everything to reveal their true nature. He never practiced mime, he never put on masks. For example, he’ll just lay out a carpet and say, ‘Show me storm With a small stick.’ In tierno boker, a character says, ‘There are three truths: my truth, your truth and the truth.’ Peter never stressed his truth. He showed you things and what you made from him was your own. and he always telling stories, To illustrate a scene, he would tell a story, and if the actor did not understand it, he would tell more. To explain a line to someone, he used to tell four-five stories about life!
Yoshi Oida, Mallika Sarabhi, Andreas Katsoulas, Mireille Malouf in Peter Brooks take mahabharat
, Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
What theater insights did you get from him?
To say that Peter was my god would be an understatement. It gave me a chance to see the world differently – to see people, cultures, always more to discover. Last month he said to me, ‘Clara, keep on searching. do not forget to.’ he also told me that he wanted to bring storm in chennai and do it in tamil. He said, ‘You can do this. we can do it together’.
What is Peter’s legacy to the theatre?
Continuous innovation, creativity, immersion and participation – this was its foundation. He was a man who was always searching. For me, the best thing about Peter was that he encouraged us to explore and come up with new ideas. In 2016, I met Kaleeswari Srinivasan, who acted in Deepan [a 2015 French crime drama]In my workshop in Pondicherry. I saw the quality of her work and I called Peter and told him I have an actress for you. worked with prisoner,
A few months ago, I introduced him to Atiq Rahimi, a French-Afghan writer [whose book, Syngué Sabour or The Patience Stone, I made into a play], Peter loved Afghanistan, and suddenly the two were speaking in Farsi—about poems and simple things like mountains and birds. It was very special. Peter was always up for meeting new people and expanding his network. It was never about my team or my people.