Between Two Silences

"Brook is someone prepared to dream, take risks, fail and then try again, succeed and still try again: a genius, and a creative one." Benedict Nightingale, Times Literary Supplement



This unusually candid volume of Brook in dialogue provides an uninhibited encounter with contemporary theatre's most influential director.

The result of 12 hours of spontaneous question and answer sessions, Between Two Silences shows Brook responding to points raised by students and lecturers about his work and ideas. Ranging widely over many topics, he talks about his innovative and award-winning production of The Marat/Sade, his film and stage versions of King Lear, and his nine-hour production of the Indian epic The Mahabharata. With passion and clarity he discusses acting, directing, auditions, film versus the stage, his responses to the work of other theatre figures such as Grotowski and Artaud, and the multiculturalism which characterises his most recent work. Between Two Silences offers a rare insight into Brook's beliefs and thoughts on theatre, giving straightforward answers to the often complex questions which his work and writings have raised.