Visionary theatre director Peter Brook dies
Peter worked with Stratford’s Royal Shakespeare Company for over 20 years
Last updated 5th Jul 2022
Theatre director Peter Brook has passed away at the age of 97.
He worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford-upon-Avon for over 20 years, staging his first production at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1946.
During his time with the RSC he directed acting giants including Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir John Gielgud.
He was awarded a CBE in 1965 and appointed a Companion of Honour in 1998.
Peter’s work was known for being boundary-breaking, moving theatre away from established conventions.
RSC Acting Artistic Director Erica Whyman told Greatest Hits Radio: “Peter ripped the plaster off by doing something wonderful that was playful and joyful.
“He broke with tradition, fully broke from it and didn’t tinker round the edges. This was like nothing anyone had ever seen. The energy was blasting through the company and the Shakespeare world, that this wasn’t about a reverence to what had gone before.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
One of his most notable works at the RSC was his 1970 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which took place to stilts and trapezes suspended above the stage.
The production featured a young Frances de la Tour, Ben Kingsley and Patrick Stewart.
Ms Whyman said the production “was such a standout moment. It did shock people, it did annoy people, but it also exhilarated a generation I would say.
“I think that A Midsummer Night’s Dream made a huge difference to the way the company thought about itself. That we were a company not of heritage, but of now.”
Peter’s work travelled both nationally and internationally, winning a Tony award for his production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream when it transferred to Broadway in New York.
Other notable productions directed by Peter include US, a response to the Vietnam war which premiered at London’s Aldwych Theatre in 1966.
“Compassion and curiosity”
Ms Whyman says Peter’s “compassion and curiosity” is what she’ll remember.
“In recent years when Peter’s visited us, this terrific generosity, wanting to see other artists thrive."
Ms Wyman first worked with Peter in the 1990s at the National Theatre Studio.
“He was very curious about people, very gentle presence that a lot of directors of his generation in particular were pretty fearsome, hierarchical leaders. Peter created a sense of a collective.”
The RSC are planning to find a way to mark Peter’s passing. West End theatres are dimming their lights at 7pm on 4 July in his memory.
Peter died at his home in France on 2 July. He is survived by his children Irina and Simon.