Peter Brook

This article is about the theatre and film director. For the painter, see Peter Brook (painter). For other people with similar names, see Peter Brooke and Peter Brooks.

Peter Brook
CH CBE
Brook in 2009
Born
Peter Stephen Paul Brook

(1925-03-21)21 March 1925
Chiswick, England
Died2 July 2022(2022-07-02) (aged 97)
Paris, France
Occupation(s)Theatre and film director
Years active1943–2022
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1951; died 2015)​
Children
Relatives

Peter Stephen Paul Brook[1] CH CBE (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). With them, he directed the first English-language production in 1964 of Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss, which was transferred to Broadway in 1965 and won the Tony Award for Best Play, and Brook was named Best Director. He also directed films such as an iconic version of Lord of the Flies in 1963.

Brook was based in France from the early 1970s, where he founded an international theatre company, playing in developing countries, in an approach of great simplicity. He was often referred to as "our greatest living theatre director".[2] He won multiple Emmy Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, the Japanese Praemium Imperiale, the Prix Italia and the Europe Theatre Prize.[3] In 2021, he was awarded India's Padma Shri.

  1. ^ "Peter Brook". Encyclopedia Britannica (online ed.). 17 March 2022. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022.
  2. ^ Taylor, Paul (5 September 2008). "Peter Brook: The director who wrote the book". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  3. ^ "II Edizione". Premio Europa per il Teatro (in Italian). Retrieved 18 December 2022.