JoAnne Akalaitis

Peter Brook, 97, the legendary British-born director who lived for 50 years in Paris and conquered New York too, from the Tony-winning “Marat/Sade” (1 of ten Broadway shows he helmed) to the nine-hour Sanskrit epic “The Mahabharata” ‘I don’t like grand terms such as “artistic vision” because I don’t believe I have one,’ he told the Guardian in 2005. ‘For me, the absolute necessity was to work with actors of different cultures and backgrounds and play in front of different audiences’ “As much revered by the establishment as he was by the avant-garde, Brook was a recipient of three Tony Awards. Yet he was more in his element when working away from the commercial glare of Broadway and London’s West End.” — Appreciation: The radical majesty of British theater director Peter Brook by LA Times critic Charles McNulty.

Mac Wellman

Elli Schoenfeld, Abrielle Kuo