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 any performer 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.
"Christopher Sanderson is one of the nation's leading directors of environmental theater and "Gorilla Theater" reflects both his sound theoretical and broad practical knowledge of how to make good, vibrant theater under almost any conditions, anywhere. As such, it's a must read for those who want to take their shows outdoors, into the streets or to the masses." -- New York Times"When the early-'90s culture wars erupted and public arts funding became scarcer, Christopher Carter Sanderson took his theatre to the people by taking it outside for free. By eschewing the frippery of the playhouse, he pioneered a genuinely individualistic aesthetic that is now brilliantly codified and commented upon in Gorilla Theatre. This is both a practical, step-by-step Gorilla Theatre guide and an unabashed proclamation of artistic beliefs from a singular theatrical voice." -- Leonard Jacobs, Assoc. Editor, Theatre Critic, Back Stage"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. Recommended for all libraries with active outdoor theater groups." -- Elizabeth Stifter, Brooklyn, NY, Library Journal"What Sanderson has fashioned in Gorilla Theatre is a training manual for replicating his own work with Gorilla Rep-he calls it a 'new form' of theatre. I hope readers will be inspired by his example and use the book as a tool to create still more 'new forms.'" ." -- Erica Schmidt, American Theatre
