The Empty Space

The Empty Space by Peter Brook is one of the most influential books about theatre ever written, and its opening sentence — 'I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage' — has become perhaps the most quoted line in all of theatrical literature. First published in 1968, the book grew out of a series of four lectures Brook delivered and has remained continuously in print for over fifty years, a testament to the enduring power and relevance of its ideas. Brook, who directed landmark productions at the Royal Shakespeare Company and later founded the International Centre for Theatre Research in Paris, brought unmatched breadth of experience to his analysis of what makes theatre vital or dead.

Brook divides theatre into four categories: the Deadly Theatre, the Holy Theatre, the Rough Theatre, and the Immediate Theatre. The Deadly Theatre is conventional, lifeless theatre that reproduces familiar forms without genuine creative engagement — the well-made production that is technically competent but spiritually empty. Brook argues that Deadly Theatre is the default condition of most professional theatre and that its prevalence is sustained by audiences, critics, and practitioners who have forgotten what living theatre feels like. His critique of Deadly Theatre remains devastatingly accurate and applicable to much of what passes for professional theatre production today.

The Holy Theatre represents Brook's exploration of theatre as ritual, ceremony, and transcendence — theatre that aspires to make the invisible visible. Brook examines the work of Artaud, Grotowski, and other practitioners who sought to restore theatre's sacred dimension, and he reflects on his own attempts to create work that transcends the merely entertaining. The Rough Theatre, by contrast, celebrates the raw, popular, vulgar energy of street theatre, commedia dell'arte, and Elizabethan stagecraft — theatre that derives its power from direct connection with audiences and from the creative freedom that comes from working without elaborate resources. Brook's affection for both traditions reveals his belief that vital theatre must combine the aspirational reach of the Holy with the grounded energy of the Rough.

The Immediate Theatre, Brook's final category, represents his vision of what theatre can be at its best — a living event that exists fully in the present moment, created through the genuine encounter between actors and audience. Brook argues that the Immediate Theatre cannot be planned or reproduced but can only be pursued through rigorous preparation that paradoxically aims to make spontaneity possible. This section draws on Brook's own directing experiences, including his legendary production of Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade and his groundbreaking A Midsummer Night's Dream, to illustrate how the pursuit of immediacy shapes creative choices at every level of production.

The book's influence extends far beyond theatre into film, education, corporate leadership, and any field concerned with how live human encounters create meaning and transformation. Brook's writing is remarkably free of technical jargon, making the book accessible to general readers as well as theatre professionals. His ability to articulate complex ideas about performance and presence in clear, vivid prose has made the book a touchstone for anyone interested in the nature of live experience. The Empty Space is regularly assigned in theatre programs worldwide and is often the first book of theatre theory that students encounter.

The Empty Space is available in paperback from Touchstone/Simon and Schuster, typically priced between $10 and $16 for a new copy. Used copies are abundantly available for under $5, as the book has been continuously in print for over fifty years and has been assigned in countless courses. Digital editions are available for Kindle and other e-readers at approximately $8 to $12. The book is quite short — roughly 140 pages — making it one of the most accessible and affordable introductions to theatrical thinking available. At this price point and length, there is no excuse for any serious theatre practitioner not to read it.

The Empty Space is essential reading for every theatre practitioner — actor, director, designer, playwright, and producer. It should be read early in one's training to establish a framework for thinking about what theatre is and why it matters, and it should be reread periodically throughout one's career as a corrective to the complacency and habit that Brook warns are the enemies of living theatre. The book is particularly valuable for actors who want to understand the broader context of their work beyond the specific demands of individual roles and scenes. If Brook's vision of theatre as a living, immediate encounter resonates with you, explore his later books, including The Shifting Point and Threads of Time, for further reflections on a remarkable career.

Read The Empty Space with a notebook in hand, as Brook's ideas will provoke responses that are worth capturing and revisiting. After reading the section on Deadly Theatre, honestly assess whether any of your own recent work — as actor, director, or audience member — falls into the patterns Brook describes, and consider what specific changes might bring more life to your practice. Attend a wide variety of theatrical performances — commercial, experimental, amateur, professional, large-scale, intimate — and use Brook's four categories as a lens for analyzing what you experience. Discuss the book with colleagues and classmates, as its provocative claims about what constitutes vital theatre are guaranteed to generate productive disagreement. Return to the book at transition points in your career, as its ideas take on different meanings at different stages of artistic development.