Columbia University Announces Peter Brook Residency

Columbia University’s new University Arts Initiative has established an on-campus residency for Peter Brook, during which the renowned director will mount the U.S. premiere of Tierno Bokar. To house the production, Barnard College will transform its LeFrak Gymnasium into a 500-seat theater.

This marks the first time that Brook will work in an urban university setting. His company will take advantage of the academic milieu with a variety of symposia, lectures, workshops and related class activities. The Columbia University Arts Initiative — led by Gregory Mosher, former Lincoln Center producer and director — is organizing the residency in partnership with Barnard College and the Harlem Arts Alliance. Tierno Bokar is scheduled to run from Wednesday, March 30 through Tuesday, April 26.

Born in London in 1925, Brook cemented his reputation in the 1960s as the director of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, and other plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Prior to settling in Paris in 1971, he spent three years in Africa. His acclaimed work has spanned theater, opera and film, including big-screen treatments of Lord of the Flies and Marat/Sade. Brook has also authored numerous books, including his landmark theoretical tome The Empty Space and his memoir, Threads of Time.