Peter Brook

Peter Stephen Paul Brook was born in Turnham Green, Chiswick, London, on the 21st March, 1925. His parents Simon and Ida were Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants, who made their fortune in pharmaceuticals. He was educated at Westminster School, Gresham’s School, and Magdalen College, Oxford.

Peter Brook has always worked in theatre since he was 16 years old, starting as an unpaid assistant at Merton Park Studios. In 1951, Brook married the English actress Natasha Parry, and together they had two children, Irina and Simon. Brook died in Paris in 2022 at the age of 97.

Key Dates & Events

• 1945 - Brook directs his first Shakespeare play, King John, for the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
• 1948 - Brook is engaged by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
• 1951 - Brook marries actress Natasha Parry.
• 1964 - Brook’s production of Peter Weiss’s play Marat/Sade shocks the theatre world.
• 1965 - Brook is awarded a CBE for his work in British theatre.
• 1967 - Brook adapts Marat/Sade for film.
• 1971 - Brook founds the International Centre for Theatre Research.
• 1974 - Brook takes over the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris.
• 1983 - Brook is awarded a place in the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
• 1985 - Brook stages The Mahabharata, an epic Sanskirt poem from ancient India.
• 1998 - Brook receives the Companion of Honour award in Britain, which recognises outstanding achievements in the arts.
• 2019 - Brook receives the Princess of Asturias Award in Arts.