In their first visit to the UK, the internationally renowned Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards will be in residence at Summerhall as part of the Rose Bruford College season during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski was founded in 1986 in Pontedera, Italy at the invitation of the Centro per la Sperimentazione e la Ricerca Teatrale (CSRT) of Pontedera, Italy (now part of Teatro Nazionale - Fondazione Teatro della Toscana). It was there that for the last thirteen years of his life Grotowski developed a line of performance research known as Art as vehicle, which he continued until his death in 1999. Jerzy Grotowski, considered one of the most influential theatre practitioners of the 20th century, worked very closely with american born artist Thomas Richards, whom he called his “essential collaborator,” eventually changing the name of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski to include that of Richards. During these thirteen years of intense practical work, Grotowski transmitted to Richards the fruits of his lifetime research, what he referred to as “the inner aspect of the work.” Today, Mr. Richards, the Workcenter’s Artistic Director, continues to develop this line of performing arts research with his Workcenter team, the Focused Research Team in Art as Vehicle.

In 2016 the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards celebrates its 30th anniversary! After thirty years of continuous performing arts research, the Workcenter makes its live performance debut in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as part of its anniversary celebrations. The Workcenter’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival Season, which will begin on August 18th and end September 3rd, 2016, will hold a wide array of events and see Mr. Richards’ team present its performance opus The Living Room, as well as the world premieres of The Underground: a Response to Dostoevsky and L’heure fugitive, two new opuses directed by Mr. Richards. Additionally, during The Workcenter’s Fringe Festival Season, Carla Pollastrelli, former Co-Director of CSRT in Pontedera, will present film documentation of Grotowski's Akropolis and The Constant Prince, and Thomas Richards will present Thirty Years of the Workcenter: a Retrospective, an event that interweaves analysis, screening of film fragments, and discussion of the Workcenter's performative works from over its thirty year history. Each of these events will take place at Summerhall's Upper Church space.

We are also pleased to announce that Mr. Richards, along with members of his team, will conduct a Workshop in Edinburgh, titled The Actor/Creator, from August 30th to September 5th. The Workcenter’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival Season thus becomes a unique opportunity for professional and amateur actors and directors to not only come in contact with the Workcenter’s performance opuses, but also to experience direct contact with with Workcenter’s performance praxis through the Workshop. Within The Actor/Creator, Mr. Richards and his team will guide participants to uncover individual creative potentialities through work on connections between precision and organicity, tradition, and individual work. During the five day Workshop, the practical work will focus as well on action, movement, rhythm, singing, and the living voice. Participants will enter into contact with a specific approach to voice, impulse, and action which has been at the heart of the Workcenter’s research for the last thirty years. We hope that you can join us this Summer in Scotland, participate in our Workshop, and accompany us at our events. We look forward to seeing you in Edinburgh this August!