Peter Brook 2019 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts

At its meeting in Oviedo, the Jury for the 2019 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts, composed of José María Cano de Andrés, María de Corral López-Dóriga, Sergio Gutiérrez Sánchez, José Lladó Fernández-Urrutia, Ara Malikian, Ricardo Martí Fluxá, José María Pou Serra, Sandra Rotondo Urcola, Benedetta Tagliabue and Aarón Zapico Braña, chaired by Miguel Zugaza Miranda and with Catalina Luca de Tena y García-Conde, Marchioness of Valle de Tena, acting as secretary, has decided to grant the 2019 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts to British theatre director Peter Brook.

Considered a mentor by various generations as well as the best theatre director of the 20th century, he is one of the great renovators of the performing arts, whose stagings reveal a high commitment to aesthetics and social issues, as did Marat-Sade and Mahabharata in their day. Peter Brook opened new horizons to contemporary dramaturgy, contributing decisively to the exchange of knowledge between cultures as different as those of Europe, Africa and Asia. Brook continues to intensely move audiences through stagings that display great purity and simplicity, true to his concept of “empty space”.

Oviedo, 24th April 2019