The Routledge Companion to Jacques Lecoq presents a thorough overview and analysis of Jacques Lecoq's life, work and philosophy of theatre. Through an exemplary collection of specially commissioned chapters from leading writers, specialists and practitioners, it draws together writings and reflections on his pedagogy, his practice, and his influence on the wider theatrical environment. It is a comprehensive guide to the work and legacy of one of the major figures of Western theatre in the second half of the twentieth century. In a four-part structure over fifty chapters, the book examines:
- The historical, artistic and social context out of which Lecoq's work and pedagogy arose, and its relation to such figures as Jacques Copeau, Antonin Artaud, Jean-Louis Barrault, and Dario Fo.
- Core themes of Lecoq's International School of Theatre, such as movement, play, improvisation, masks, language, comedy, and tragedy, investigated by former teachers and graduates of the School.
- The significance and value of his pedagogical approaches in the context of contemporary theatre practices.
- The diaspora of performance practice from the School, from the perspective of many of the most prominent artists themselves.
This is an important and authoritative guide for anyone interested in Lecoq's work.
Foreword by Geoffrey Rush
General Introduction
Mark Evans and Rick Kemp
Part I
Influences and Antecedents
Introduction
Mark Evans
- The French Theatrical Avant Garde
- Mime, ‘Mimes’ and Miming
- The Rediscovery of the Mask
- Jacques Lecoq and the Challenge of Modernist Theatre, 1945-1968
- Jacques Lecoq and the Studio Tradition
- Bachelard, Jousse and Lecoq
- Space and Mimesis
- Movement Made Visible: Marey and Lecoq
- Literature, Lecoq and the ‘nouveau roman’
- The Body Voice of Satire: Jacques Lecoq and Dario Fo
- The Influence of Sports on Jacques Lecoq’s Actor Training
- What Works and What Doesn’t Work: On Play
- Neutral Mask - A Life’s Journey
- The Mimo-dynamics of Music, Poetry, and Short Story: Lecoq on Bartók
- Full Face Masks, Pantomime Blanche and Cartoon Mime
- Commedia Dell’Arte and Comedie Humaine
- The Chorus
- Bouffons and the Grotesque
- Auto-cours, Enquetes, Commandes: A Practitioner’s Perspective
- Lecoq's Clown and its Application to Playing Shakespeare's Clowns
- Laboratory of Movement Study
- Lecoq, Emotion and Embodied Cognition
- The Juggernaut and the Pram: Lecoq and UK Actor Training
- Moving Medicine
- British Movement Directors
- Contemporary Circus
- Lecoq Training and Asian Theatre Practice
- Locating the Body in English Language Teaching
- Language and the Body
- Lecoq and Shakespeare
- Le Jeu and the Journey of a People
- Lecoq and Architecture
- Dear Jacques... Lecoq in the Twenty First Century
- Jacques Lecoq, Ariane Mnouchkine and le Théâtre du Soleil
- The Magic Flute and L’École Jacques Lecoq
- Lecoq and Complicite
- Theatre Ad Infinitum and Jacques Lecoq
- Lecoq Practitioners in the UK
- The Actor/Creator and Three American Ensembles
- Pig Iron: Disponibilité and Observation
- The Toronto Connection
- La Mancha Theatre Company and School - Chile
- From Paris to Cape Town: Lecoq and Magnet Theatre
- Clown – Trial by Errors
- Lecoq and Film
Nigel Ward (UK)
Vivian Appler (US)
Gillian Arrighi (AUS)
Bruce McConachie (US)
Tom Cornford (UK)
Claudia Sachs (BRA)
Jon Foley Sherman (US)
Clare Brennan (UK)
Pardis Dabashi (US)
Gloria Pastorino (US)
Part II
Inspirations and Evolutions
Introduction
Rick Kemp
Mark Evans (UK)
Paola Coletto (IT/US) and Jennifer Buckley (US)
Dody DiSanto (US)
Jennie Gilrain (US)
David Gaines (US)
Giovanni Fusetti (IT)
Shona Morris (UK)
Bim Mason (UK)
Carlos García Estévez (ES)
Sara Romersberger (US)
Ismael Scheffler (BRA)
Part III
Ricochets and reverberations
Introduction
Mark Evans
Rick Kemp (UK/US)
Vladimir Mirodan (UK)
Suzy Willson (UK)
Ayse Tashkiran (UK)
Mitch Mitchelson (UK)
Maya Tångeberg-Grischin and Anna Thuring (SWE)
Nikole Pascetta (CAN)
Maiya Murphy (US)
Darren Tunstall (UK)
Susan Knutson (CAN) and Normand Godin (CAN)
Laura Gioeni (IT)
Simon Murray (UK)
Part IV
Voyages and Diaspora
Introduction
Rick Kemp
Helen Richardson (US)
Simon McBurney (UK), William Kentridge (SA) and Catherine Alexander (UK)
Richard Cuming (UK)
Vanessa Ackerman (UK)
Emily Kreider (UK)
Susan Thompson (US)
Quinn Bauriedel (US)
Martin Julien (CAN)
Ellie Nixon (UK)
Jennie Reznek (SA) and Mark Fleishman (SA)
Rick Kemp (UK/US)
Mark Evans (UK)
Biography
Mark Evans is Professor of Theatre Training and Education and Associate Dean (Student Experience) in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Coventry University. His research focuses on the work of Jacques Copeau, Jacques Lecoq and movement training for the modern actor. He recently edited The Actor Training Reader (Routledge, 2015) and is an Associate Editor of the Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal.
Rick Kemp is Head of Acting and Directing at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and the author of Embodied Acting (Routledge 2012). He has worked internationally as an actor and director with companies and theatres such as Commotion, Complicite, Almeida, Teatr Polski and the Bouffes du Nord.