International Centre for Theatre Research
Encyclopedia
The International Centre for Theatre Research sometimes also known as The International Centre for Theatre Creation was founded in 1970 by Peter Brook
and Micheline Rozan. It is often abbreviated to the acronym CIRT as in French the group is called the Centre International de Recherche Théâtrale. The centre is a multicultural theatrical research and production company based out of the Bouffes du Nord
theatre in Paris since 1974. The first three years of the company were taken up by exploring a fundamental theatrical question (see below)
or the RSC
(at the Roundhouse). Brook and Rozan acquired sufficient funding to sustain Brook's work for three years. Working with a core company and several visiting collaborators.
A budget of $1 million was established: $100,000 to set up the organization, and $300,000 for each year from 1971-1973. Money was raised from the French government and various international foundations (Ford Foundation
, Gulbenkian Foundation and Anderson Foundations)
Money also came from the government of Iran
in the form of a commission for a work at the Shiraz
/Persepolis
festival in 1971. Work was begun even though the full three-year budget was not secured at the outset.
On this three-year sojourn, they produced two major works Orghast
produced in 1971 at the Shiraz Festival in Iran and The Conference of Birds developed in West Africa
and completed in 1974 at BAM
in Brooklyn, New York.
Peter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
and Micheline Rozan. It is often abbreviated to the acronym CIRT as in French the group is called the Centre International de Recherche Théâtrale. The centre is a multicultural theatrical research and production company based out of the Bouffes du Nord
Bouffes du Nord
The Bouffes du Nord is a theater at 37 bis, boulevard de la Chapelle in the 10th arrondissement of Paris located near the Gare du Nord. It is registered as a historic monument.-History:...
theatre in Paris since 1974. The first three years of the company were taken up by exploring a fundamental theatrical question (see below)
Funding
Brook had previously been sponsored for limited periods by Jean-Louis BarraultJean-Louis Barrault
Jean-Louis Barrault was a French actor, director and mime artist, training that served him well when he portrayed the 19th-century mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau in Marcel Carné's 1945 film Les Enfants du Paradis .Jean-Louis Barrault studied with Charles Dullin in whose troupe he acted...
or the RSC
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
(at the Roundhouse). Brook and Rozan acquired sufficient funding to sustain Brook's work for three years. Working with a core company and several visiting collaborators.
A budget of $1 million was established: $100,000 to set up the organization, and $300,000 for each year from 1971-1973. Money was raised from the French government and various international foundations (Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, Gulbenkian Foundation and Anderson Foundations)
Money also came from the government of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
in the form of a commission for a work at the Shiraz
Shiraz, Iran
Shiraz is the sixth most populous city in Iran and is the capital of Fars Province, the city's 2009 population was 1,455,073. Shiraz is located in the southwest of Iran on the Roodkhaneye Khoshk seasonal river...
/Persepolis
Persepolis
Perspolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire . Persepolis is situated northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid...
festival in 1971. Work was begun even though the full three-year budget was not secured at the outset.
First three-year journey
This multinational assembly of actors, dancers, musicians and other performers travelled widely in the Middle East and Africa in the early 1970s. This was as a three-year 'pilgrimage' to answer the question "What were the common stories, the recognizable shorthands, the instant abstractions, the shared outlines of story and character with which an international group could work?"On this three-year sojourn, they produced two major works Orghast
Orghast
Orghast was a strange rambling play, based on the myth of Prometheus, written by Peter Brook and Ted Hughes, and performed at Persepolis, Iran, in 1971 during the reign of the last Shah.-Mythic play at Persepolis:...
produced in 1971 at the Shiraz Festival in Iran and The Conference of Birds developed in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and completed in 1974 at BAM
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
in Brooklyn, New York.