born Aug. 11, 1933, Rzeszów, Pol.
died Jan. 14, 1999, Pontedera, Italy
Polish-born U.S. stage director.
He joined the Polish Laboratory Theatre of Wrocław in 1959 and founded a permanent company in 1965. The Laboratory Theatre made its U.S. debut with Akropolis (1969); it was followed by Undertaking Mountain (1977) and Undertaking Earth (1977–78), by which time Grotowski was living mostly in the U.S. Known as an avant-garde theorist, he sought to create dramatic tension by setting up emotional confrontations between audience and actors. His book Towards a Poor Theater (1968) emphasized the centrality of the actor and advocated minimal stage sets. He influenced U.S. experimental theatre movements, notably the Living Theatre .