Acclaimed Director Peter Brook Dies At 97

Variety has just reported the death of Peter Brook at 97. He was a Tony and Emmy award winning British director. Brook died in Paris, where he has lived since the 1970s. His last work was THE TEMPEST PROJECT this year with Marie-Hélène Estienne.

His awards include A Special Citation (New York Drama Critics Circle Awards) for Le Centre International de Créations Théâtricales at La Mama, Outstanding Director (Drama Desk Awards) for A Midsummer Night's Dream, Best Direction of a Play (Tony Awards) for A Midsummer Night's Dream Best Director (Outer Critics Circle Awards) for The Persecution and Assassination of Marat as performed by the Inmates of the Asylu of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sadeand Best Direction of a Play (Tony Awards) for Marat/Sade.

He had non-traditional approaches to classic work and even had audiences watch a French theater troupe perform in a language the actors had invented themselves. Brook's most memorable productions include the 1964 MARAT/SADE and MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.

"Throughout his career, Brook questioned theatrical conventions and tried to break boundaries whenever possible" (Variety)

Brook and Micheline Rozan founded the International Centre for Theatre Research, in 1970 as a group of multinational actors, artists, dancers and musicians. Peter Brook moved towards primal theater and avoided Western theater venues, traveling the Middle Wast and Africa to perform their work in both French and English.

His reactions spanned from his many acclaimed works to his poor reviews of MAHABARATA in 1985. This production was a nine-hour retelling of an epic Sanskrit poem that can be described as works of Homer in India.

Brook had several films as versions of his staged work: MARAT/SADE (1967), the anti-Vietnam war piece TELL ME LIES (1968), KING LEAR (1971) and a 2002 TV version of HAMLET starring Adrian Lester. Other movies include his black-and-white adaptation of William Golding's LORD OF THE FLIES in 1963, and the intellectual MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE MEN (1979).

He wrote a bible of experimental theater called "The Empty Space,"for continual exploration and spontaneity in theater work. He also wrote he also wrote "The Shifting Point" (1987) and "There Are No Secrets" (1993). He also has an autobiography "Threads of Time" that has much more detail on his life.

Peter Brook was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1965 and Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur (France) in 2013. His son Simon Brook also made a documentary surrounding Brook titled Peter Brook: THE TIGHTROPE.

Brooke was married to actor Natasha Parry until her death in 2015 and is survived by his son and daughter.