Ecrits, vol. 1 - 1954-1969

This two-volume edition of Jerzy Grotowski’s writings traces the intellectual journey of a major artist of the second half of the 20th century, from 1954 to 1998.

This first volume covers the period from 1954 to 1969; it brings together articles, essays, reports, transcripts of lectures and interviews – most of which have not previously been published in French – and offers a new translation of Grotowski’s texts that make up the book Towards a Poor Theatre. From his early political writings, advocating for a reform of socialism in Poland, through the founding, at the age of twenty-six, of the Laboratory Theatre in Opole and later in Wrocław, right up to his final production in 1969, *Apocalypsis cum figuris*, these texts bear witness to a body of thought in perpetual motion – a body of thought always linked to practice, creation and research into the art of acting and directing.

Edited by Mario Biagini, in collaboration with Michelle Kokosowski.

‘With Grotowski, the performance becomes an act of sacrifice, a public offering of what most people prefer to hide – and it is an offering in honour of the spectator. Grotowski turned poverty into an ideal; his actors stripped themselves of everything except their own bodies; they have instruments – their own bodies – and unlimited time; it is no wonder they consider their theatre to be the richest in the world. ’ Peter Brook, The Empty Space (1977)