Theatre of Movement and Gesture

Jacques Lecoq was probably the most influential theorist and teacher of what is now known as physical theatre. Theatre of Movement and Gesture, published in France in 1987, is the book in which Lecoq first set out his philosophy of human movement, and the way it takes expressive form in a wide range of different performance traditions. Lecoq traces the history of pantomime, sets out his definition of the components of the art of mime, and discusses the explosion of physical theatre in the second half of the twentieth century.

This unique volume also contains:

• interviews with major theatre practitioners Ariane Mnouchkine and Jean-Louis Barrault
• chapters by Jean Perret on Étienne Decroux and Marcel Marceau
• a final section by Alain Gautré celebrating the many physical theatre practitioners working in the 1980s
• a wealth of illustrations, including previously unpublished photographs from the Lecoq collection. 

Lecoq's poetic, incisive writings form the backbone of this extraordinary text. The pieces gathered here represent a precious testimony to his special vision of the art of acting and of its close relationship with the history of mime and of masked performance.

(Source: Theatre of Movement and Gesture blurb)

Donated by the estate of Tim Nga.