Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999) was the founder of the Laboratory Theatre in Wroclaw, Poland, an experimental theater in which attention is focused almost exclusively on the actor and his/her message, rather than on such props as costumes, music, and makeup, which were eliminated.

Jerzy Grotowski was born August 11, 1933, in Rzeszow, Poland. His father, Marion Grotowski, was a painter and sculptor; his mother, Emilia, a teacher. Jerzy attended school in Rzeszow, but he spent a year seriously ill in a hospital when he was 16. During his stay Grotowski read, studied, and pondered carefully what he would do with his life. He decided to devote his life to art. Upon leaving the hospital he lived with his family in Krakow and finished school there. Subsequently he entered the Advanced School of Dramatic Art in 1951 at the age of 18 to become a director. When not at the School of Dramatic Art...