Brook has Russian roots: his father emigrated from Russia in 1907.
At this year's Spielzeitevropa Festival, in Berlin, he agreed to have an interview with a Russian periodical, Izvestia-for the first time in a decade.
Brook says he is keen to stage a play about the modern-day Russia and its conflicts. He is not interested in simply portraying oligarchs as bad guys and presidents as good guys, but would like to show a much broader picture of Russian life, letting many different characters have their say.
Brook has just put on a production of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor" with a Paris-based company. From this show, audiences will learn that there was a time when the Inquisition acted as horrendously as Islamic terrorism does these days, the director says.
As Brook sees it, political theater is actually Stalinist in nature. It always boils down to the struggle between a hero and a villain, and there is nothing beyond that.
Brook says his directorial work is not about materializing his own ideas. This trend, of which he personally disapproves, started in the early 20th century, when directors domineered over their companies in Russia and Germany. But in his view, the theater's ambition should be to give life to the invisible. A show built on a concept makes no sense. One centered on an emotion does not have much value, either. Only a synthesis between the intellectual and the emotional can make a perfect theatrical experience. Brook says he keeps working toward that ideal while being aware of its unattainability.
Brook has worked with some of Britain's most prestigious dramatic companies. He has got several masterpieces to his credit, internationally recognizedas 20th-century classics (these include "Hamlet," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Cherry Orchard," and "The Mahabharata"). He has visited Russia more than once to bring his productions to Russian audiences. On March 21, 2005, he will be celebrating his 80th birthday.
