Brooke is primarily known for his groundbreaking adaptations of William Shakespeare’s works for the Royal Shakespeare Company, including, in particular, A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1970, which was performed in a white cube and the use of a trapezoid. He has received numerous theater and television awards – Tony Awards, Emmy Awards and Laurence Olivier Awards, Commander of the Order of the British Empire and the French Legion of Honor.
Brooke’s career began with directing “Doctor Faustus” in 1943 at the Torch Theater in London. Then he became production director at the Royal Opera House in London, where he composed the controversial Richard Strauss for the film “Salome” with sets for Salvador Dali. For Royal Shakespeare, I direct, in addition to the above “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, also including. “Titus Andronicus”, “King Lear” and “The Tempest”.
In 1964, he directed the first English-language version of the play “Marat / Sade”, which the following year went to Broadway and won a Tony Award for Best Play, and was also named Best Director. Brooke is also known for collaborating with Jean-Claude Carrier on the adaptation of the Indian epic poem Mahabharata – it premiered on stage in 1985.
In the early 1970s he moved to Paris, where he founded the International Center for Theater Research, and in 1974 he adapted the derelict Parisian theater de Bovis du Nord.
“Many of his works are known for depriving theater of unnecessary elements and distilling drama at its core, presenting them with a clear eye and an elegant touch,” the Guardian wrote.
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