AFP
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NOS News•yesterday, 18:42
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Internationally acclaimed British theater director Peter Brook has died aged 97. Brook has directed plays and operas in England, France and the United States, among other places, and has won several Tony Awards, the most important theater awards in the US.
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Brook, the son of two Latvian Jewish parents, was born in London in 1925. After graduating from Oxford University, he initially worked for an advertising agency, but soon found his way to his great love, the theatre.
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Brook has directed plays with great actors such as Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. He has worked for the Royal Opera House in London and the Royal Shakespeare Company, among others.
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‘Shaking up conventions’
His plays were often performed in non-traditional venues such as gymnasiums and abandoned factories. He took pleasure in “shaking up horrible, dull, old conventions,” as he put it.
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In 1970 Brook moved from New York to Paris where he founded the experimental theater company International Center of Theater Research. With this company he ended up in the monumental Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, where he continued to work until 2011. Among other things, he made a version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in which he deleted several characters and adjusted the storyline, something he had done before with other pieces.
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Books and Movies
Despite his eyes deteriorating, he continued to direct even after that. His last piece Why? that he wrote himself, was performed in Paris and New York. He wrote several books on directing. His publisher Nick Hern Books, who broke the news of his death, calls Brook a man “who leaves behind an enormous artistic legacy”.
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Besides his work as a theater director, he also worked as a film director. For example, he directed In 1963 Lord of the Flies† He was previously nominated for a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.
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