Tip of the Tongue

A thoughtful and deeply personal book by a master theatre-maker.In Tip of the Tongue, Peter Brook takes a charming, playful and wise look at topics such as the subtle, telling differences between French and English, and the many levels on which we can appreciate the works of Shakespeare. Brook also revisits his seminal concept of the 'empty space', considering how theatre – and the world – have changed over the span of his long and distinguished career.Threaded throughout with intimate and revealing stories from Brook's own life, Tip of the Tongue is a short but sparkling gift from one of the greatest artists of recent times.

Peter Brook (1925–2022) was one of the most influential and important figures in twentieth-century theatre. Outstanding in a career full of remarkable achievements were his productions of Titus Andronicus (1955) with Laurence Olivier, King Lear (1962) with Paul Scofield, and The Marat/Sade (1964) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1970), both for the Royal Shakespeare Company.After moving to Paris and establishing the International Centre for Theatre Research in 1970 and the International Centre for Theatre Creation when he opened the Bouffes du Nord in 1974, he produced a series of events which pushed at the boundaries of theatre, such as Conference of the Birds (1976), The Ik (1975), The Mahabharata (1985) and The Tragedy of Carmen (1981) to name but a few.His films include Lord of the Flies (1963), King Lear (1970), The Mahabharata (1989), Tell Me Lies (restored 2013) and Meetings with Remarkable Men (restored 2017).His hugely influential books, from The Empty Space (1968) to The Quality of Mercy (2013), Tip of the Tongue (2017) and Playing by Ear (2019), have been published in many languages throughout the world.