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Grotowski: Ecstasy and Initiation in Performance

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Grotowski: Ecstasy and Initiation in Performance Anna Misopolinou Ph. D Thesis Grotowski: Ecstasy and Initiation in Performance University of London Goldsmith‘s College 2004 1 ABSTRACT By examining the work of the theatre director Jerzy Grotowski, this thesis seeks to define how Grotowskian performance becomes an initiatory process through ecstasy. Despite several transitions in his work, from 1959 till after his death in 1999 to the present time, its aims and underlying principles have remained unalterable. In the Grotowskian tradition the performer builds up the psyche, in contrast to other acting methods that stress the importance of the role. What Grotowski sought to achieve was the self-development of the performer through transcultural performing and ritual techniques. Therefore, an interdisciplinary approach was elaborated for the analysis of Grotowski‘s methods. After contextualising Grotowski in the post-War Polish society, his work is examined in relation to other disciplines. An overview of theories from anthropology and sociology indicates how Grotowski‘s work relates to traditional and archaic ritual. Thus, his work can be further elucidated by the theories of Theatre Anthropology, which examine performances that borrow artistic elements from ritual and non-Western theatre. Yet, Grotowski refused to adapt unedited ritualistic or theatrical fragments and gestures to his work. Viewed concomitantly with anthropological and psychological theories, his work appears to have developed a special affinity to ecstatic and healing ritual, the methods and principles of which were applied by his performers. To elucidate this special affinity, parallels are drawn between Grotowski‘s work and the Greek ecstatic ritual of Anastenaria. This thesis indicates the way the mental and physical perception of Grotowski‘s performer functions in an ecstatic or liminal context beyond bipolarisation. In other words, body and mind, impulses and gestures are harmonised. Taking into account studies on ancient Greek civilization, it further 2 draws parallels between Grotowski‘s performer and the ancient Greek performer, as both embraced a multilevelled/liminal approach to acting. The Greek actor participated simultaneously in the social institutions of the city-state, among them the tragedy, and in the religious practices, possibly the Eleusinian mysteries. By having considered post-war Polish history, as well as Grotowski‘s relation to the politics of his time, it becomes clear that Grotowski‘s concept of the performer was not just spiritual caprice, but was strongly influenced by the politics and religion of his country, as was the ancient Greek concept of the performer. A final consideration of this work is to show that Grotowski‘s performer seeks to perceive yet transcend the duality of human nature. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 5 INTRODUCTION An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Grotowski’s Work 7 CHAPTER I Considering the Context: the role of politics and culture in Grotowski’s work 24 CHAPTER II Ritual Dimensions: ritualistic elements in Grotowski’s work 64 CHAPTER III Liminal Aspects: incorporation of opposing theories in Grotowski’s work 101 CHAPTER IV Ecstatic Explorations: ‘objective’ subjectivity in Grotowski’s work 137 IV a. Affinities of Grotowski’s Theatre with Anastenaria 156 CHAPTER V Healing Potential: Grotowski’s acting as a psychic process 186 CHAPTER VI Initiatory Mysteries: parallels between Grotowski’s work and the cult of Dionysus 227 VI a. The Political Aspect of the Dionysian 261 VI b. Grotowski and Tragedy: politics and religion in art 269 VI c. Epilogue 274 CONCLUSION 276 BIBLIOGRAPHY 284 FILMS 295 ILLUSTRATIONS 296 Map of Greece with Anastenarian sites 297 Photos of Anastenarian activities 298 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Maria Shevtsova, who encouraged my ideas and guided me throughout the development of my argument. She cared for the work as if it were her own and I am truly indebted to her for her patience and inspiration. In addition, I would like to thank the State Scholarships Foundation of the Republic of Greece, which sponsored me from September 1998 to March 2002. I am also grateful for the assistance of colleagues who read sections of the manuscript, notably Zois Pigadas, Panagiota Konstantinatou and Katerina Konstantinatou. Moreover, I am obliged to Dr. Eleni Papazoglou, who provided me with a bibliography on Greek Tragedy, and to Aneta Liaptsi, who helped me produce the photos for this text. I would also like to express appreciation to the psychiatrist Demmis Kyriakou, the manager of the Institute of Dramatherapy of Nothern Greece, for his advice and recommendations regarding the matters of psychotherapy involved in this thesis. Furthermore, I would like to thank both Professor Shevtsova and Kathleen Hart, who provided help in editing my English. The full responsibility for any errors of fact, interpretation or printing, however, is mine. Professor Nikos Misopolinos and Athena Tsoskounoglou, my parents, who nurtured my dream by supporting me both emotionally and financially, deserve my wholehearted thanks. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my most demanding critic and unflagging supporter, my husband, Dionysis Svoronos. 5 To my son, Orpheus 6 INTRODUCTION An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Grotowski’s Work This thesis examines the use of ecstasy and initiation, processes studied primarily in the field of anthropology, throughout the theatrical work of Jerzy Grotowski. His adoption of techniques of self-definition and personal development, as revealed through ecstasy and initiation, bring out the developmental aspect of theatre that in many other cases is imitative. The argument of this thesis begins with a contextualisation of Grotowski‘s life and work. This requires an analysis of the historical, social and political conditions in which Grotowski lived. The thesis examines how Grotowski transcended the artistic currents of his day. In other words, through interdisciplinary and transcultural techniques Grotowski stepped beyond the norms of theatre and set liminal conditions for the performer. The thesis, therefore, considers the way the liminal, trance state is achieved by Grotowski‘s performers. Grotowski‘s activities are compared and contrasted with an ecstatic rite. This discussion leads to an examination of the self-developmental and healing aspects of Grotowski‘s practices and how these relate to the initiatory Greek mysteries of Eleusis and to the themes of ancient Greek tragedy. The final step in the argument presents a social contextualisation of Grotowski‘s work by comparing his cultural background to the social realities of Athens at the time of the emergence of democracy. Consequently, Grotowski‘s notion of the ‗holy‘ performer develops through modern initiatory practices. 7 Despite the fact that the studies on Grotowski are mostly descriptive in character, they provided a solid basis for a critical analysis of Grotowski‘s ultimate objectives. More precisely, Zbigniew Osinski‘s Grotowski and His Laboratory, focusing on specific bibliographical details which concern Grotowski‘s life and work both in the Theatre of Productions period and in Paratheatre, underlines the transcendental character of Grotowski‘s performances and the developmental intentions of the actor‘s training. In turn, The Theatre of Grotowski by Jennifer Kumiega reveals similar considerations. The vivid descriptions of the performances and activities in Paratheatre suggest Grotowski‘s intention of initiating the actor into a higher level of consciousness. Lisa Wolford, in Grotowski’s Objective Drama Research, explores the similarities between the activities of the Objective Drama Research project and the initiatory mysteries of ancient Mediterranean civilizations. Thomas Richards‘ At Work with Grotowski on Physical Actions is concerned with the same period of work and also with the next, the period of Art as Vehicle. It is an account of Richards‘ personal experiences during work in the Objective Drama Research and how he collaborated with Grotowski in Italy, where the work was transferred after 1986. The Grotowski Sourcebook, a compilation of articles written during each period of Grotowski‘s work, is rich in participant‘s personal experience of the work. In I Wayan Lendra‘s article, for instance, Grotowski‘s work in the Theatre of Sources is compared to an ecstatic Bali dance, while in another article, Osinski directly compares the activities of the Art as Vehicle project in Pontedera with the Greek initiatory mysteries of Eleusis, a comparison that is also apparent in the Edge- Point of Performance, written by Richards. Eugenio Barba‘s Land of Ashes and Diamonds is primarily a personal account of the years he spent in post-war 8 Poland with Grotowski and a collection of the letters he received from Grotowski during the same period. Here, Barba explains in detail a point that the historian and theatre critic Jan Kott had made earlier about Grotowski—the ability to join politics with metaphysics in his theatrical work. The current studies on Grotowski as well as my own experience of Grotowski‘s work in conferences and visits to Italy after his death provided me with the cognitive background for analysing and defining Grotowski‘s aims. This thesis intends to indicate the way Grotowski‘s interest in ritual developed into ritual-like activities with an initiatory character that soon abandoned the restrictions of theatre by incorporating the knowledge
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