British Grotowski Project. Three year AHRC funded practical and theoretical project with multiple outcomes.

The British Grotowski Project – a re-evaluation’ has received significant financial support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project, under the direction of Professor Paul Allain, will be run with the assistance of the Grotowski Institute in Wroclaw (Poland) as well as other overseas partners.

Polish director Jerzy Grotowski's contribution to world theatre is widely acknowledged. He has a central position in Britain in theatre studies and a still vital influence on theatre-making, especially devising and actor training in what is loosely termed Physical Theatre. However, teachers, students, academics and practitioners interested in this work both theoretically and practically, struggle with a lack of precise knowledge and access to primary sources, key texts, and good translations of his main treatises, as well as clearly articulated and accessible documents of and reflections on his practices. There is also no systematic analysis of his influence on British theatre-making and university drama studies since 1965 and his initial work with Peter Brook at the RSC. This project, running from October 2006 to October 2009, will address these knowledge gaps through creating:

a Critical Edition with an accompanying DVD of images, film and audio extracts.

online materials that will reveal the range of influences Grotowski has had on artists, teachers, and producers in Britain, whilst providing access to and information about useful Grotowski-related resources

a multi-modal international conference for practitioners and academics in 2009, the 'Year of Grotowski' (marking the 10th anniversary of his death).