Peter Brook: The Tightrope

Peter Brook's tightrope exercise draws a lot of attention and practically applies a lot of what Anne Bogart wrote about in "Resistance." The exercise is only fruitful and actually creates something worth watching if the actual tension—physically, mentally, holistically—of walking on a tightrope is recreated. There are no actual imminent danger or high stakes because they are walking only on a rug, but if those imagined circumstances can be put into their physical and mental status, it can act as a full obstacle that creates friction—which is exciting. All of the different forms of the exercise with different levels of musical catalyst or settings do the same thing: create obstacles to collide with, compete with, and maybe overcome.

On a side note, I was perhaps most engaged in this film in the moments when Peter Brook or the different actors spoke in different languages. The multilingual communication that some were able to perceive and connect with divided them from the others who might only know English. It's very enticing to see this kind of attempt for multicultural inclusion and diversity that also inherently sets apart those who are "worldly enough" to take part in the unity from bilingual communication and those who don't have that expanse.