A.C.T. to Screen PETER BROOK: THE TIGHTROPE, 3/24

Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced today that American Conservatory Theater will present the exclusive California screening of Peter Brook: The Tightrope, a new and definitive documentary on the creative process of legendary theater director Peter Brook, on Monday, March 24 at 7 p.m. at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). The screening will set the stage for A.C.T.'s upcoming production of The Suit, running April 23-May 18, 2014. Tickets for Peter Brook: The Tightrope are $10 for general admission and $5 for A.C.T. subscribers (with promo code) and may be purchased online at act-sf.org/tightrope or by calling 415.749.2228. $8 tickets for groups of 10+ may be purchased by calling Group Sales at 415.439.2309.

Peter Brook is one of the world's most respected and revolutionary directors of contemporary theater. To help his actors achieve extraordinary performances, he has a special exercise, called "the Tightrope," which evolved over decades of experimentation and practice. Now, for the first time in forty years, Brook has agreed to raise the curtain and reveal how the Tightrope works its dramatic alchemy. Directed by Simon Brook - Peter's son - this quietly eloquent and unique film gives audiences an up close and personal look at Brook's theatrical and philosophical approach.

Filmed in total immersion with five hidden cameras, Peter Brook: The Tightrope plunges audiences into the intimate aspects of Brook working with his troupe of actors and musicians. Without disturbing the truth of the moment, the film reveals the magic inherent to the creative process, taking us beyond the intimacy of a workshop and into a heightened experience.

The film also features Japanese composer and musician, Toshi Tsuchitori who has collaborated with Peter Brook for more than 30 years, and French composer and musician Frank Krawczyk who composed the musical accompaniment for Love is My Sin, based on the sonnets of William Shakespeare and arranged and interpreted Mozart's original score for Brook's production of A Magic Flute.

Beginning April 23, 2014, A.C.T. will bring Peter Brook's acclaimed music-infused production, The Suit, to the Geary Theater. When a husband catches his beautiful wife in the arms of her lover, the lover flees-but leaves his suit behind. As her penance, the husband makes his wife "treat the suit as an honored guest," to accompany her wherever she goes. From the dinner table to walks around the neighborhood, the suit becomes a whimsical yet cruel reminder of her infidelity. Traditional African melodies interweave with jazz standards to underscore this simple yet surprising tale, set in Apartheid-era Johannesburg. Reminiscent of The Scarlet Letter and overflowing with the same inventiveness as The Overcoat and Brief Encounter, The Suit features innovative staging that integrates virtuosic musicians directly into the action, making Brook's haunting production of this heartbreaking fable sing. The Suit will perform at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater April 23-May 18, 2014. Tickets ($20 - $120) are on sale now and may be purchased online at act-sf.org or by calling 415.749.2228.

Peter Brook: The Tightrope (2013, 86 min, France-Italy) Directed by Simon Brook. Produced by Simon Brook, Ermanno Olmi, Luigi Musini and Jean-Pierre Eklou Attisso. Edited by Josie Miljevic and Barbara Bossuet. Sound by Philippe Avril. Art Direction by Yann Dury and Antoine Champerne. Sound Editing by Agnes Ravez. Sound Mixing by Theirry Delor. A production of Brook Productions, Cinemaundici (Italy) and ARTE France (France) in association with the International Center for Theatre Research (CIRT). Peter Brook: The Tightrope is distributed by First Run Features.

With: Peter Brook; musicians Yoshi Oida and Frank Krawczyk; and actors Hayley Carmichael, Jos Houben, Micha Lescot, Marcello Magni, Khalifa Natour, Yoshi Oida, Adbou Ouologuem, Caesar Sarachu, Shantala Shivalingappa, Emily Wilson, and Lydia Wilson.

ABOUT PETER BROOK: Born in London in 1925, Peter Brook studied at Oxford and launched himself into stage directing for the first time at age 17. During the course of his career, he has distinguished himself in a multiplicity of genres: theater, opera, cinema and writing. For the theater he has staged numerous texts by Shakespeare for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1971 in Paris, he founded with Micheline Rozan, the International Center for Theatre Reseach (CIRT) and took over the direction of the Bouffes du Nord in 1974, where he stayed until 2010. His productions are notable for their iconoclastic aspects and their international scope. He also directs operas and has written several books. Among his most recent works are: A Magic Flute, a free adaptation of Mozart's opera for which he received the Moliere Award in 2011. Also on world tour in 2012 and 2013, a revival of The Suit. This autumn will also see the release of his 1968 anti-war film Tell Me Lies, in a new version stunningly restored by the Technicolor Foundation and the Fondation Groupama Gan. The film will be distributed theatrically starting in France on October 10th 2012 followed by a worldwide release in 2013.

Awards:
Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play Marat/Sade, 1966
Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1971
Freiherr von Stein Foundation Shakespeare Award, 1973
Grand Prix Dominique, 1975
Brigadier Prize, 1975, Timon of Athens
Society of West End Theatre Award, 1983
Emmy Award, 1984, La tragédie de Carmen
Prix Italia, 1984
International Emmy Award, 1990, The Mahabharata
Praemium Imperiale, 1997
Dan David prize, 2005
The Ibsen Award, 2008
Critics' Circle Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts 2008

Honors:
Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 1965
Honorary DLitt, University of Birmingham, 1990
Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, 1991
Honorary DLitt, University of Strathclyde, 1990
Honorary DLitt, University of Oxford, 1994
Officier de l'Ordre de la Légion d'honneur (France), 1995
Companion of Honour, 1998
Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur (France), 2013

ABOUT SIMON BROOK: Simon Brook was born in London and was educated in Paris and London. He started working as a runner at Pinewood at the age of twelve on various film productions. After training for a year as an actor at the London Drama Center, he moved to Paris where he worked as a Company Manager for the European tours of Pina Bausch, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and the Murray Louis Dance Company. He then spent a few years in New York and Los Angeles, working on Jim Jarmusch's film Down By Law, music videos with Academy Award winning director Zbigniew Rybczinsky and on Philip Kaufman's Unbearable Lightness of Being.

He established Black Cat Productions in New York, producing TV drama, music videos and shorts. In 1988 he was associate producer on the movie Religion, INC starring Sandra Bullock. Since his return to France, he has been directing documentaries and drama, including the J.G. Ballard story Minus One, and Alice by Saki, released theatrically on 90 screens with Volker Schlondorff's The Ogre.

His many films include 20 short films about children in Caucasus, a documentary on the Amazon River for France 2, a documentary about the Karo tribe of Ethiopia for Canal+ and the documentary Brook by Brook, coproduced by the Dardenne brothers. He also made a film on Alexandria in the time of Cleopatra for Discovery and a musical documentary in the Amazon, Jungle Magic, for the BBC and ARTE. In 2006, he directed The True Legend of the Eiffel Tower a ninety minute docudrama for Canal+ and France 3 (with record ratings and the highest audience appreciation, beating The March of the Penguins). In 2008 he directed the documentary Generation 68, a humorous offbeat look at the 1968 uprisings, commented upon 40 years later by Dennis Hopper, Milos Forman, Mary Quant, Vaclav Havel, Jean-Claude Carriere, Ed Ruscha and more.

More recently he produced and directed Annie Nightingale: Bird on the Wireless, a one-hour primetime musical documentary with Paul McCartney and Mick Jones (of the Clash) for the BBC. Simon just completed a 90-minute documentary Indian Summer, a medical road movie about Ayurvedia medicine.

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