French Physical Theatre of the 20th and 21st Century - Copeau, Dullin, Artaud, Barrault, Lecoq, Marceau, Gaulier and Pagneux
French Physical Theatre is a style of training, exploration and performance that concentrates on movement as the central form of communication, character and storytelling. It incorporates forms and techniques such as mime, mask work, gesture, movement and dance to train actors, create explorations and performances. While its origins can be seen in theatre forms such as the Commedia dell'arte, Asian forms of theatre and the work of early Absurdist like Alfred Jarry, many see the originator of modern French Physical Theatre as coming from Antonin Artaud and his ideas of the Theatre of Cruelty. Yet modern French Physical Theatre can be seen to start much earlier with the work of Jacques Copeau and Charles Dullin as actors, directors and trainers.
Jacques Copeau (1879 - 1949)
Jacques Copeau was French theatre director, actor, trainer and dramatist. He was born in Paris in 1879. Due to family problems, he finished his formal education at the Sorbonne in 1901. After a short stint in Copenhagen, he returned to France and co-founded the influential arts magazine Nouvelle Revue Francaise in 1909. In 1913, he founded the revolutionary Theatre du Vieux-Colombier which put artistic merit above all commercial concerns. The small theatre (500 seater and then eventually reduced to 360 capacity) emphasized the ensemble above the individual. The ensemble often rehearsed in his home. He emphasized physicality in rehearsals. The company put on a number of productions but WWI cur short their work. Around this time, Copeau sojourned with the designer/director Edward Gordon Craig and met the eurythmic master Dalcroze and designer Appia and started to develop ideas for three dimensional performance enhanced by mise en scene and lighting elements.
Charles Dullin
Charles Dullin was a French actor, theatre and film director, theatre trainer and manager who did much to further exploration and performance of movement based theatre. Born in 1885 in Yenne in present day France, by the age of 20, he had started as a full time actor performing mostly in melodrama. By 1908, he and fellow actor Saturni Fabre had started their own company staging melodramas and formalist style dramas including the early play works of Alexandre Arnoux.
After moving to Paris, Dullin joined Copeau's company in 1913 for a short while before committing to Copeau's company more formally in 1917. As a soldier in WWI, he started to use his pantomime and mime skills and his interest in Japanese Kabuki theatre to perform to his fellow troupes. He saw these as essential representations of human nature even in the most dire of circumstances. By 1920, he was training actors at the Theatre Antoine and by 1921 he had developed ideas for a laboratory theatre and commune which he called Theatre de lÁtelier which he established outside Paris in Neronville. He trained and explored with actors for 10-12 hours a day to create a theatre based on common sharing of life and work. Some of the actors in this original troupe included Antonin Artaud and Marguerite Jamois. He later moved his troupe to the Theatre Montmartre in suburban Paris which had been the 'first purpose built theatre in suburban Paris when it was established in 1822.
Dullin's by 1922 included mime and mirroring exercises, improvisation and vocal exercises exploring 'Voix de Soi-Meme' (the voice of oneself) and 'La Voix du Monde' (the voice of the world). He saw that actors must "see before describing, hear before answering... and feel before trying to express themselves". His use of soundscape movement exercises involving live and recorded sounds were described by many students. This work was influences by the work of Emile Jaque-Dalcroze and his system of Eurhythmics. Also pivotal to this work was the use of mask work from neutral masks to commedia masks to Noh theatre masks. Two of his most famous students from this period in the 1920s were the actor/theatre theorist Antonin Artaud and the actress Jany Holt (aka Ruxandra Ecaterina Vlădescu). It is interesting to note that Dullin used some Asian performance techniques and masks during the 1920s but he did not see his first performance of Asian theatre until in 1930 he saw Tsutsui Tokujiro's troupe perform in Paris in 1930. This performance was a shinpa style which combined kabuki style theatre with Japanese melodrama and swordplay.
By the 1930s, Dullin's work had moved more into training actors and acting in films. He used his wonderfully physical and symbolic acting techniques to perform in films such as Les Miserables (1934) and Streets of Shadows (1937). His attempts to create a non-Naturalistic theatre and his creation of anti-war productions, meant that he found it difficult to continue his work during World War Two. After, the war, he continued to train actors and perform in films such as Les jeux sont faits ('The Chips are Down') (1947). He died in 1949 in Southern France while touring as an actor. His legacy and training techniques are kept alive through the Academie Charles-Dullin.
Exercises - Dullin
1. Walk to the music and when the music stops, you stop in a frozen pose of dynamic tension.
2. Skip or dance to music and when the music stops move with the same rhythm and movements in the opposite direction without the music. The can also be done as doing a scene or movement with music and then when the music stops, continue the scene with the same rhythm or mood.
3. Bounce and catch a tennis ball to the rhythm of different music. This can also be done with the ball or ball passing between member of a group.
Antonin Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty
Artaud was born in Marseille in 1896. At the age of 18, he was admitted to a sanitoria. In 1916, he was conscripted into the French army. He was discharged from the army due to sleepwalking and was put back under psychiatric care. He eventually moved to Paris in 1921 and began some training with the symbolist poet and director Lugne-Poe. After a short holiday in Marseille, he joined Dullin's troupe and trained under Dullin in physical theatre techniques. Besides training with Dullin, he also developed over 11 roles for Dullin productions.
During his eighteen months with Dullin's company, Artaud started to develop the beginnings of his theories for the Theatre of Cruelty. The physical work in Dullin's company helped Artaud to believe that gesture and movement were more powerful as a performance tool than text. He saw the function of lights, sound and set not as merely decorative and aesthetic elements but as tools for sensory disruption. He saw the audience as central to the performance. Around this time he started to describe theatre as an act of 'organised anarchy'. Like Dullin, he was strongly influenced by Eastern philosophy and performance. Whereas Dullin thought believed in a theatre of transposing or translating Eastern performance techniques to Western theatre because he did not "... impose on our Western theatre rules of a theatre of a long tradition which has its own symbolic language...", Artaud saw the adoption of Eastern symbolic gesture and movement as crucial to the survival of Western theatre. By 1923, he was writing poems and essays that became the basis for his work The Theatre and its Double.
During the late 1920s, Artaud started to work in films as an actor and writer and to start to work with the surrealist movement. He was a talented artist as well as a performer. However, Artaud was expelled from the surrealists by Breton because Artaud saw the communist leanings of the Surrealist and Breton's viewpoint that all theatre was bourgeois and anti-revolutionary as counterproductive. Artaud even made a direct attack on the Surrealists in 1926/27 in hos 'The manifesto for an Abortive Theatre' where he called for an "essential metamorphosis of society". Artaud saw film as the natural transition to this process. His most notable acting roles were as Jean-Paul Marat in Gance's Napoleon (1927) and as a monk called Massieu in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). Ten of the over thirty screenplays he wrote survive including one of the few which was produced which was the 1928 Dulac directed surrealist film The Seashell and the Clergyman.
After being expelled from the Surrealists, Artaud, Robert Aron and Roger Vitrac formed the Theatre Alfred Jarry, where they staged a broad range of productions in different styles. The theatre company put on four seasons of plays including Artaud's own play Theology (1928). In 1931, Artaud's interest in traditional theatre was to change forever when he saw a Balinese dance at the Paris Colonial Exposition. Specifically, Artaud was struck by the hypnotic rhythms of the gamelan and the way the dancers interacted in a dynamic way with the music. This significantly influenced his only official staging of a Theatre of Cruelty performance, Shelley's The Cenci in 1935 at the Theatre des Folies-Wagram in Paris. The play's challenging themes of the play along with directions in the text helped Artaud finally explore his theories on theatre in practice. As Artaud himself said of the play's opening scene, the scenes is "suggestive of the extreme atmospheric turbulence, with with-blown drapes , waves of amplified sound... as well as the presence of numerous large mannequins". Although the play was a commercial flop, it introduced many innovations including the first use in theatrical performance of an electronic instrument called the ondes martenot which was similar to a theremin.
Later in 1935, Artaud received a grant from the Mexican Legation in Paris to travel to Mexico. Artaud believed that he needed to get away from Western decadence and get back to the deep roots of humanity that he believed existed in societies like Mexico. He studied, lived and even ran with the Tarahumaran in their rugged mountainous homelands and took part in peyote rites. His writings and insights from this period were written up in the book Voyage to the Land of the Tarahumara.
Back in France in 1937, Artaud was given a staff by a friend which he believed was the the famous Irish religious relic called the "staff of Jesus". He travelled to Ireland but eventually was deported as destitute. After an incident where he was attacked on a boat returning to France, he ended up in a straightjacket. This started a period in his life when he was in and out of asylums. He published his famous writings The Theatre and its Double (1938) during this period. He advocated for a theatre of magic and ritual with totem and gesture as its language. He saw words as not able to express the mind and saw that theatre should show spaces crammed with images and sounds where the audience is seized by a whirlwind of higher forces. As WW2 started and continued, Artaud was in and out of mental institutions. In 1943, he was transferred to Rodez in France and underwent electroshock therapy combined with art therapy under the guidance of Dr. Ferdiere. After the war, he was transferred to an institution in Ivry-sur-Seine and friends supported him writing and drawing again. In late 1947, he recorded for radio Pour en Finir avec le Jugement de Dieu (To Have Done With the Judgment of God) which stands as a lasting testament to his vision of a theatre of cruelty. The Director of French Radio, shelved the work the day before its scheduled airing in 1948. He died on March 4th in 1948, found seated in his bed holding a shoe by a gardener at the Ivry-sur-Seine clinic.
Exercises - Artaud - Theatre of Cruelty
Non verbal Arguments
Non-verbal arguments. Find a partner. This can be done face to face or online. You are to have an argument consisting of only sounds-- primal, aggressive sounds such as barks, howls, grunts, and moans. Manipulate the tone and pace of your argument as you proceed with the argument. Keep going until you and your partner come to an ending. This activity shows how an audience can interpret emotion without words. Sounds can convey the intensity of feeling in a non naturalistic, almost primal manner. Two. Repeat the exercise but this time, use one word each. You must stick to your chosen word and not change it. One word and one word only. You don't need language to evoke meaning. As Artaud said, 'Theatre of Cruelty serves not to entertain nor instruct but to effect'.
Jean-Louis Barrault (1910 - 1994)
Jean-Louis Barrault was a French actor, director, and mime artist who became one of the most influential figures in French physical theatre. Born in Le Vésinet, France, Barrault initially studied under Charles Dullin before joining Étienne Decroux's school of mime. This dual training allowed him to develop a unique approach to physical performance that combined dramatic acting with corporeal mime.
Barrault gained international recognition for his portrayal of the 19th-century mime Baptiste Deburau in Marcel Carné's film "Les Enfants du Paradis" (1945). His performance demonstrated his exceptional ability to communicate complex emotions through pure movement, establishing him as a master of mime and physical expression.
In 1940, Barrault founded his own company, and in 1946, he and his wife Madeleine Renaud established the Renaud-Barrault Company at the Théâtre Marigny. Their productions were characterized by a unique blend of text and physicality, with Barrault consistently emphasizing the importance of the body as an expressive instrument. He refused to separate verbal and physical expression, believing instead that they should work in harmony to create a complete theatrical experience.
Barrault's staging of works like "Le Procès" (adapted from Kafka's "The Trial") in 1947 and Claudel's "Le Soulier de Satin" showcased his ability to transform literary texts into dynamic physical performances. He integrated elements of dance, mime, and acrobatics into traditional theatre, creating a style that was both visually striking and emotionally resonant.
After being dismissed from the Odéon-Théâtre de France following the student protests of 1968, Barrault continued to innovate, establishing theatres in various locations throughout Paris. Throughout his career, he remained committed to exploring the relationship between text and movement, creating performances that expanded the boundaries of physical theatre.
Jean Louis Barrault and Modernist Total Theatre
Jean-Louis Barrault was born in 1910 and became a pioneering figure in what he termed "Total Theatre." Initially training as a painter, Barrault shifted to actor training under Charles Dullin from 1931 to 1935, later studying with Étienne Decroux. This diverse education shaped his unique vision of physical theatre that integrated dramatic acting with corporeal mime.
Barrault's directorial debut came in 1935 with an adaptation of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, which employed chorus chanting, drum beats, dance-drama, and exaggerated movements. His 1937 adaptation of Cervantes's The Siege of Numantia further developed his movement-based approach. In 1940, he joined the Comédie Française, experimenting with vocal orchestration in his productions.
During this period, Barrault began staging Paul Claudel's plays, which many considered unstageable. His production of Claudel's verse play The Satin Slipper incorporated mystical elements through mime, vocal orchestration, and stylized movement. In 1945, Barrault and his wife, acclaimed actress Madeleine Renaud, formed the Compagnie Renaud-Barrault, establishing their base at the Théâtre Marigny in 1946.
Barrault gained international recognition for his portrayal of 19th-century mime Baptiste Deburau in Marcel Carné's film "Les Enfants du Paradis" (1945), demonstrating his exceptional ability to communicate complex emotions through movement. His innovative staging continued with works like Kafka's "Le Procès" (1947), where he transformed literary texts into dynamic physical performances by integrating dance, mime, and acrobatics into traditional theatre.
After being dismissed from the Odéon-Théâtre de France following the student protests of 1968, Barrault established theatres in various locations throughout Paris. Throughout his career until his death in 1994, he remained committed to a holistic approach where classical European theatre forms merged with Asian theatre techniques, Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, and symbolism. His "Total Theatre" vision enabled performers to portray not only human characteristics but also animals and inanimate objects through mask work, found spaces, rituals, incantatory sounds, and hieroglyphic forms of physical expression.
Exercise - Barrault's "The Animal Within"
Barrault believed that every character contained elements of animal physicality. In this exercise:
- Choose an animal that represents aspects of your character.
- Study its movements, rhythm, and breathing patterns.
- Gradually incorporate these qualities into your human character, allowing the animal essence to influence your physicality without directly imitating the animal.
- Perform a short monologue or scene, maintaining the internal rhythm and energy of your chosen animal.
- Gradually reduce the external animal characteristics while maintaining the internal essence.
This exercise helps actors discover unusual physical qualities for characters while avoiding stereotypical gestures and developing a more organic approach to movement.
Jacques Lecoq (1921 - 1999)
Jacques Lecoq emerged as one of the most significant figures in physical theatre pedagogy of the 20th century. Born in Paris, Lecoq began his career as a physical education teacher and competitive gymnast before discovering theatre. After working briefly with Jean Dasté (son-in-law of Jacques Copeau), Lecoq moved to Italy where he spent eight years working with Amleto Sartori, developing masks and exploring commedia dell'arte.
In 1956, Lecoq returned to Paris and founded his now-famous school, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, which continues to be one of the most prestigious physical theatre training institutions in the world. His pedagogical approach was based on what he called "the journey" – a two-year curriculum that took students through various theatrical territories including neutral mask, commedia dell'arte, melodrama, tragedy, bouffon, and clown.
Central to Lecoq's teachings was the concept of "le jeu" (play), which emphasized the importance of playfulness, curiosity, and complicity in performance. He encouraged students to discover their unique "state of play" – a heightened sense of awareness, presence, and responsiveness essential for dynamic performance.
Lecoq's approach to physical theatre was distinguished by his emphasis on movement analysis and his concept of "mime de fond" (foundational mime). Unlike traditional pantomime, this approach focused on the essential dynamics and rhythms that underlie all movement rather than codified gestures. He believed that understanding these fundamental qualities was crucial for creating authentic performances in any style.
Perhaps most revolutionary was Lecoq's development of the neutral mask – a training tool designed to strip away habitual gestures and expressions, allowing performers to achieve a state of physical openness and availability. This "point of calm" became the foundation upon which students could build more complex characterizations.
Lecoq's influence extends beyond theatre into architecture, writing, filmmaking, and other creative fields through his concept of "auto-cours" – self-directed creative projects that encouraged students to apply physical theatre principles to varied artistic domains.
Exercise - Lecoq's "Push and Pull"
This exercise explores the fundamental tensions that Lecoq identified in movement:
- Working in pairs, Person A places their hands on Person B's shoulders.
- Person A applies gentle pressure (push), while Person B resists just enough to maintain balance.
- Gradually, the pair explores this pushing dynamic throughout different parts of the body – hands against hands, back against back, etc.
- Next, they explore the opposite dynamic (pull), where one person pulls away while the other provides just enough counter-tension.
- Finally, partners improvise a short, wordless scene incorporating these push-pull dynamics, discovering how these physical tensions can create dramatic relationships.
The exercise helps performers understand how physical tension creates dramatic tension and how the fundamental forces of push and pull underlie all human interactions.
Marcel Marceau (1923 - 2007)
Marcel Marceau was the most renowned mime artist of the 20th century, bringing the art form to international prominence. Born Marcel Mangel in Strasbourg, France, Marceau studied under Étienne Decroux before developing his own distinctive style. While not strictly a theatre pedagogue like some others in this lineage, his influence on physical theatre is undeniable.
Marceau created his famous stage persona "Bip" – a white-faced character with a striped shirt, flower-adorned opera hat, and red carnation – who became an iconic figure in mime performance. Through Bip, Marceau explored the human condition in pieces like "The Mask Maker," "Walking Against the Wind," and "The Cage."
Unlike the more abstract approach of his teacher Decroux, Marceau developed a more accessible, narrative-driven style that combined technical precision with emotional expressiveness. His "mimodramas" – full-length mime performances – demonstrated that silent physical theatre could sustain audience interest over extended periods.
Marceau's technique was characterized by extreme precision, clear isolation of body parts, and what he called "the grammar of mime" – a systematized approach to creating illusions such as walls, stairs, or wind. He revolutionized the art form by combining traditional pantomime techniques with elements of modern dance, clowning, and physical comedy.
In 1978, Marceau established his École Internationale de Mimodrame in Paris, where he trained generations of performers in his distinctive approach. His teaching emphasized the importance of economy of movement, clarity of intention, and emotional authenticity – principles that continue to influence physical performers worldwide.
Exercise - Marceau's "Weight and Resistance"
Marceau believed that convincing mime depended on accurately portraying weight and resistance:
- Begin by pantomiming lifting objects of increasing weight – a feather, a book, a briefcase, a heavy suitcase, and finally a massive boulder.
- Focus on how your body naturally counterbalances when handling objects of different weights.
- Progress to manipulating imaginary materials with different resistances – pulling a sticky substance, pushing through water, stretching an elastic band.
- Combine these elements by creating a short sequence where you encounter different weights and resistances in succession.
- Add emotional responses to these physical challenges, allowing the difficulty of the task to generate authentic feelings.
This exercise develops the performer's ability to create convincing illusions while discovering how physical tasks can naturally generate emotional states.
Philippe Gaulier (1943 - present)
Philippe Gaulier is a celebrated French master clown, pedagogue, and founder of École Philippe Gaulier. After studying under Jacques Lecoq, Gaulier developed his own distinctive teaching methodology that has influenced countless performers worldwide, including Sacha Baron Cohen, Emma Thompson, and members of Theatre de Complicité.
Gaulier's approach differs from many physical theatre pedagogues in its emphasis on "le jeu" (play) above all else. While technical mastery is important, Gaulier insists that finding pleasure in performance – what he calls "having a good time on stage" – is the essential prerequisite for engaging an audience. His provocative teaching style, characterized by brutal honesty and sardonic humor, is designed to strip away pretension and artificial performance habits.
Central to Gaulier's pedagogy is the concept of "complicity" – the dynamic connection between performers and audience. He teaches that when performers genuinely enjoy themselves, the audience is naturally drawn into this pleasure. Conversely, when performers strain or try too hard, audiences disengage.
Gaulier's curriculum includes training in bouffon, clown, neutral mask, melodrama, Shakespeare, and character work. Unlike more movement-focused approaches, Gaulier is equally concerned with the performer's psychological state – their "état d'esprit" (state of mind). He consistently challenges students to find freedom, pleasure, and playfulness even in technically demanding work.
Perhaps most revolutionary is Gaulier's concept of "beautiful idiocy" – the willingness to be vulnerable, ridiculous, and authentically present rather than hiding behind technique or pretension. This approach has particularly influenced contemporary clown and bouffon performance, encouraging performers to embrace failure as a path to authentic connection.
Exercise - Gaulier's "The Pleasure of Being Ridiculous"
This exercise explores Gaulier's emphasis on finding pleasure in performance through embracing ridiculousness:
- Form a circle with the group. One person enters the circle.
- The person must perform a simple task (like counting to ten or reciting a nursery rhyme) while being deliberately and enjoyably ridiculous.
- If the performer appears to be "trying to be funny" rather than genuinely enjoying their own ridiculousness, the group calls out "Stop!" and the performer must try again with less effort and more pleasure.
- The exercise continues until the performer achieves a state of genuine pleasure in their own absurdity.
- This can be extended by adding constraints – performing the same task while being "the most beautiful person in the world" or "the most important person in the world."
This exercise helps performers discover the freedom that comes from abandoning the need to be impressive or correct, finding instead the authentic pleasure that engages an audience.
Monika Pagneux (1927 - 2023)
Monika Pagneux represents a crucial link in the lineage of French physical theatre, having collaborated with and been influenced by many of the major figures in the tradition. After studying dance with Mary Wigman and movement with Rudolf Laban, Pagneux worked with Étienne Decroux before joining the faculty at Jacques Lecoq's school, where she taught for ten years.
Pagneux's approach is distinguished by her integration of diverse movement disciplines. She combines elements of dance, mime, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, and Asian movement forms into a holistic approach to physical theatre training. Her work emphasizes organic connectivity throughout the body, fluid transitions between stillness and movement, and what she calls "the poetry of the body."
Unlike some more structured pedagogical approaches, Pagneux's teaching adapts to the needs of individual performers. She focuses on helping each student discover their unique physical voice rather than imposing a codified technique. Her workshops often begin with detailed physical awareness exercises before progressing to more expressive explorations.
Central to Pagneux's work is the concept of "the available body" – a state of physical and psychological readiness that allows performers to respond authentically to creative impulses. She teaches that true availability comes not just from physical flexibility but from removing unnecessary tension and habitual patterns.
Though less widely known than some of her contemporaries, Pagneux's influence is profound. Through her work with Theatre de Complicité and numerous master classes throughout Europe, she has shaped generations of physical performers, emphasizing the integration of rigorous technique with authentic personal expression.
Exercise - Pagneux's "The Space Between"
This exercise explores Pagneux's interest in the dynamic relationship between performers and space:
- Working in pairs, partners stand facing each other about six feet apart.
- Without speaking, they must become deeply aware of the space between them, sensing it as a tangible substance with qualities (density, temperature, texture).
- Moving very slowly, one partner begins to "sculpt" this space with their body, creating shapes and pathways.
- The second partner responds not to the movements of the first person but to the changes in the shared space between them.
- Gradually, both partners develop this "space dialogue," allowing movement to emerge organically from their awareness of the changing spatial relationship.
- After exploring for several minutes, partners discuss what they discovered about spatial awareness and responsive movement.
This exercise develops the performer's sensitivity to space as an active element in performance and explores how movement can emerge from relationship rather than predetermined sequences.
References
Artaud, A. (1947) Pour en Finir avec le Jugement de Dieu (To Have Done With the Judgment of God). Audio Recording Retrieved from:
Artaud, A. (1958) The Theatre and its Double. Translated by M. Esslin. New York: Grove Press.
Bablet, D. (1978) The Revolutions of Stage Design in the Twentieth Century. New York: Theatre Communications Group.
Barber, S. (1993) Antonin Artaud: Blows and Bombs. London: Faber and Faber.
Barrault, J.-L. (1951) Reflections on the Theatre. Translated by B. Wall. London: Rockliff.
Blau, H. (1982) Blooded Thought: Occasions of Theatre. New York: Theatre Communications Group.
Copeau, J. (1990) Copeau on Theatre. Translated and edited by T. F. Evans and R. G. Hayes. London: Routledge.
Copeau, J. (1991) Copeau: Texts on Theatre. Edited and translated by J. Rudlin and N. H. Paul. New York: Routledge.
Deak, F. (1977) 'Antonin Artaud and Charles Dullin: Artaud's Apprenticeship in Theatre'. Educational Theatre Journal, 29(3), p. 346.
Decroux, É. (1985) Words on Mime. Translated by M. Evans. Mime Journal.
Dullin, C. (2000) Souvenirs et Notes de Travail d'un Acteur. Paris: Actes Sud-Papiers.
Esslin, M. (1976) Antonin Artaud. London: John Calder.
Farmer, D. (2019) 'The Seven Levels of Tension', Drama Resource. Retrieved from
Gaulier, P. (1991) The Tormentor's Handbook. London: Methuen Drama.
Gordon, M. (2006) Lecoq (Routledge Performance Practitioners). London: Routledge.
Leiter, S. (1994) The Great Stage Directors. New York: Facts on File.
Lecoq, J. (2002) The Moving Body (Le Corps Poétique): Teaching Creative Theatre. Translated by D. Bradby. London: Methuen Drama.
Marceau, M. (1978) Marceau on Mime. New York: Leotard Dancewear.
Murray, S. (2003) Jacques Lecoq. London: Routledge.
Pagneux, M. (1994) Exercises for Actors. Translated by G. Evans. London: Routledge.
Ristow, G. (2019) 'Favorite Dalcroze Games Vol. 1', UTheory. Retrieved from
Rudlin, J. (1986) Jacques Copeau. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Saint-Denis, M. (1982) The Rediscovery of the Actor. New York: Theatre Arts Books.
Yoremikids. (2022) Dalcroze Eurhythmics Activities for Kids. Retrieved from
Practical Techniques and Exercises (Implied in the above sources):
- Copeau's Seven Levels of Tension: Directly referenced in the chapter and further elaborated on in Farmer (2019). Practical application involves exploring these levels physically and vocally to develop character and performance dynamics.
- Dullin's Movement and Sound Exercises: Dullin's approach emphasized mirroring exercises, improvisation, and soundscape movement work. Practical techniques would involve responding physically to music and sounds, and exploring movement in opposition after an initial rhythmic impulse (Leiter, 1994).
- Artaud's Non-Verbal Arguments: The chapter explicitly outlines this exercise, focusing on primal sounds and single words to explore emotional communication beyond traditional language (Barber, 1993; Esslin, 1976). Artaud's audio recording (1947) provides further insight into his vocal and sonic explorations.
- Barrault's "The Animal Within": This exercise, detailed in the chapter, encourages actors to embody animalistic qualities to enrich character physicality (Barrault, 1951).
- Lecoq's "Push and Pull": The chapter describes this exercise for understanding fundamental movement tensions and their dramatic potential (Gordon, 2006; Lecoq, 2002; Murray, 2003).
- Marceau's "Weight and Resistance": This exercise, explained in the chapter, focuses on creating convincing illusions through precise physical manipulation of imaginary objects (Marceau, 1978).
- Gaulier's "The Pleasure of Being Ridiculous": The chapter outlines this exercise aimed at liberating the performer through embracing absurdity and finding joy in performance (Gaulier, 1991).
- Dalcroze Eurhythmics: Dullin's work was influenced by Dalcroze. The resources by Ristow (2019) and Yoremikids (2022) offer practical games and activities based on Dalcroze principles, which involve movement, rhythm, and music to enhance physical awareness and expression.
