His own job, he said, was to encourage and enable, to clarify and refine, not to dictate. He had stopped pre-planning or “blocking” stage movement as a young director in 1946 when he came to the first rehearsal of “Love’s Labour’s Lost” with plans that he realized after a few minutes with the actors were absurdly inflexible and immediately it broke.
He was never known to lose his temper during rehearsals and sometimes fell into an amused aloofness. But his seriousness was never in doubt. For Mr. Brook, theater is “a whole mirror of human existence, visible and invisible,” which should challenge both performers and audiences to reevaluate the world and their lives.
Mr. Brooke’s long and globe-spanning career continued well into his 90s. In September 2019, “Why?”, a play written and staged by Mr. Brook and his longtime collaborator Marie-Hellen Estienne, opened in Brooklyn after a Paris debut, with a planned tour to China, Italy and Spain. And the following month, a new book, Playing by Ear: Reflections on Music and Sound, was published.
With his piercing blue eyes and quiet authority, Mr Brooke had an undeniable charisma, although he did not like to be described as a guru. He ironically rejected his moniker, Buddha, as he felt that he was far from achieving spiritual security and indeed did not think that any security was possible.
He was influenced by George Gurdjieff, a mystic who believed that nothing should be taken for granted, that everything needed questioning, and that cooperation with others was vital. As Mr. Brooke told The Times in 1998, “I’m willing to disavow my opinion, even from yesterday, even from 10 minutes ago, because all opinions are relative.”
Emma Bubola contributed to this report.
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