Peter Brook

One of the most influential thinkers about theatre in the later 20th C, Brook is known for stripping things back to essentials and for pioneering global theatre. He went to Haiti with Greene and stayed with Dalí in Spain (persuading him to design sets for a production). Meeting Chaikin and Grotowski (who became a close collaborator) was seminal, with Craig (whom he’d known well) another influence. Barrault helped him establish his Paris company: other close collaborators (often friends) included Hughes, Oida, Bâ, Diop, Weiss, Genet and Fugard. Williams corresponded warmly. Brook called Beckett a good companion, saying his joviality was underappreciated.