Mirecka, Rena

Practitioner

Rena Mirecka is from Poland and graduated from the Theatre School in Krakow. A founding member of Jerzy Grotowski’s Laboratory Theatre, she contributed to the development of the Laboratory’s ground-breaking approach to performance training and creation, and is a specialist in the physical exercises known as plastiques. She is the only woman to have performed in all of the Laboratory Theatre performances, including Akropolis, The Constant Prince and Apocalypsis cum Figuris, three internationally acclaimed masterpieces in which she played key roles. Having collaborated with Grotowski for 25 years, she went on to work independently, conducting her own paratheatrical research and teaching internationally. Mirecka’s approach draws from non-Western and Indigenous cultural traditions as well as from the physical and vocal training emblematic of Grotowski's Laboratory Theatre. Virginie Magnat

Image: © Maciej Stawinski

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Acting Therapy

These sessions were initially organised by Laboratory Theatre members for fellow actors who were interested in the practice of overcoming difficulties with breathing, the voice, and lethargy.

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The Dream: Rena Mirecka’s Laboratory of Paratheatrical Research in Brzezinka

By providing unprecedented access to the work of Grotowski’s women collaborators, this film, featuring Rena Mirecka, offers a more inclusive assessment of Grotowski’s enduring legacy.

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Benesz, Ewa

Ewa Benesz worked at Grotowski’s Laboratory Theatre from 1966–8, joining the company again in the eighties. She has engaged in a wide range of performance experiments focussing on theatre’s roots.

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Jerzy Grotowski was one of the major theatre directors of the twentieth century. He extended what theatrical activity comprises by focussing on acting, space, and the actor–audience relationship.