Gorillatheatre: A Practical Guide to Performing Outdoor Theater Anytime, Anywhere »

Christopher Carter Sanderson is founding director of Gorilla Rep. He has taught drama at Princeton and Yale. He lives in New Haven, CT.

On a warm evening a man is crying "Howl, howl, howl" as he carries in his arms the body of a young woman. This isn't urban violence, it's Gorilla Rep's production of King Lear. There are no sets. The action uses available space: a parking lot, a pedestrian mall, a field. The audience - students, theater lovers, passersby, homeless people - move along with actors, from a tree to a fountain to a bench, and the audience may follow a portion of the performance or all of it. This is one of the most radical, and yet most easily available, concepts in theater: make the world the theater, make the world the audience. Christopher Carter Sanderson is the creator of an alternative theatrical concept: live free performance in public spaces. Featured in the New York Times, the Gorilla Rep productions are praised both for their acting and for the startling ingenuity of the concept. In this new book, Sanderson explains how theater can be made to work in any free space. He provides specific and practical advice for anyperformer or director, and relates stories from his own Gorilla Rep experience that show what the most unorthodox of theatrical techniques can achieve - without a theater, without a stage, and without a ticket to be sold.

Library Journal

As founding artistic director of the Gorilla Repertory Theatre Company, Sanderson knows a thing or two about staging a play in Mother Nature's midst. Since 1989, his company has performed A Midsummer Night's Dream in New York City's Washington Square Park to wide acclaim. Here, he shares his expertise, guiding directors on choosing the piece and location, set designers, casting, permissions and permits, and organizational details such as mission statements, sponsorships, publicity, running effective meetings, and working with volunteers and interns. Known for his modern takes on classical theater, Sanderson calls for the actors and audience to move to a new location for each scene, so he includes a section on directing and dealing with the attendees. In addition, he offers rehearsal guidelines detailing his experiences in scheduling, communicating techniques, and exercises with actors. Sanderson's "paratheatric rehearsal"-a physical technique named in homage of theatre pioneer Jerzy Grotowski-outlines a three-day schedule that requires the cast to live and rehearse in a rural setting while exploring environmental improvisations. Woven into each chapter are guidelines on safety and responsibility as well as the necessary qualities to produce excellence in "gorilla" theater. Recommended for all libraries with active outdoor theater groups.-Elizabeth Stifter, Brooklyn, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.