From Mahabharat to his highest honours: A look at late theatre legend Peter Brook's life
Legend of theatre
On March 21, 1925, Peter Brook was born in Chiswick, London to a family of Jewish parents. Later, he attended the Westminster School and later Oxford University.
Introduced Mahabharat to the world
One of Brooke's most classic play is 'The Mahabharat'. For the unversed, let us tell you that Peter was the first one who took Hindu mythology to the world stage. After doing research for years, in the 1980s with writer Jean-Claude Carrière, he began work on the Hindu Mythology Mahābhārata.
The nine hours long play toured many acclaimed places across the world for four years.
Love life
Brook got married to actress Natasha Parry and together they have two children, Irina (actress & director), and Simon (director). Sadly, Parry died in July 2015 aged 84, which left Brook heartbroken.
''One tries to bargain with fate and say, just bring her back for 30 seconds," he said.
A prodigy child
A prodigy who made his professional directorial debut at just 17, Brook was a singular talent right from the start. He mesmerised audiences in London and New York with his era-defining "Marat/Sade" in 1964, which won a Tony award, and wrote "The Empty Space", one of the most influential texts on theatre ever, three years later.
Its opening lines became a manifesto for a generation of young performers who would forge the fringe and alternative theatre scenes. "I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage," he wrote.
"A man walks across an empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre..."
His memorable plays
Brook's startling 1970 Royal Shakespeare Company production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in a white-cube gymnasium was a turning point in world theatre. It inspired actress Helen Mirren to abandon her burgeoning mainstream career to join his nascent experimental company in Paris.
Peter Brooke's famous play includes, King John, King Lear, Hamlet Prince of Denmark, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Tierno Bokar.
Recipient of highest honours
For his incredible contribution to the theatre world, Peter was the recipient of some highest honours in this world. In the year 1965, he was presented with Commander of the Order of the British Empire, later he had his name inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Later he was awarded, Companion of Honour, Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur (France) and last year in 2021 at the age of 97, he was honoured with India's fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri.
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