ABSTRACT
I participated in the Objective Drama program at the University of California-Irvine from 1989 through the conclusion of the program in 1992. Objective Drama is the term used by Jerzy Grotowski to designate the phase of his research begun in 1983, following his emigration to the United States. A 1984 “Research and Development Report” for the program describes Grotowski’s focus:
Objective Drama is concerned with those elements of the ancient rituals of various world cultures which have a precise and therefore objective impact on participants, quite apart from solely theological or symbolic significance. Mr. Grotowski’s intention is to isolate and study such elements of performative movements, dances, songs, incantation, structures of language, rhythms and uses of space. Those elements are sought by means of a distillation process from the complex through the simple and through the separation of elements one from the other.
(Focused Research Program in Objective Drama 1984)
