Song of the Goat Theatre: Artistic Practice as Life Practice

Abstract

In this article Anna Porubcansky discusses the work of Song of the Goat Theatre not only in its artistic practice, but as a life practice. Based in Wrocław in Poland, the group continues a Polish tradition of experimental theatre practice as seen in the work of Juliusz Osterwa, Jerzy Grotowski, and Włodzimierz Staniewski. A fundamental influence on Song of the Goat has been the belief in Buddhism of its co-founders Grzegorz Bral and Anna Zubrzycki, which has shaped a performance practice rooted in the principles of interconnection and compassion. The group focuses its work on ‘coordination’, an approach that seeks to create a profound sense of harmony within and between each actor and every element of his or her work through training, improvising, and research on diverse songs, dances, myths, and rituals. Maintaining connection to the world through this material, Bral and Zubrzycki extend the group's artistic work through social projects such as the Brave Festival, which celebrates lost and dying cultural traditions in an attempt to create a performance practice that is actively integrated with the social world. Few academic publications are available on Song of the Goat, and this article draws on three years of extensive fieldwork with the company, utilizing interviews and personal observations of training, rehearsals, expeditions, and performance development for its most recent production, Macbeth. Anna Porubcansky is currently completing her PhD in the Department of Drama at Goldsmiths, University of London.