Today, the barn and the yurt on the UCI campus are used by the school’s drama department and faculty. He settled in Pontedera, Italy, where he died. One day he called Cohen and said he was going back to Europe. Periodically, Grotowski would fly to France to see his physician. “He knew he was dying when he came here,” Cohen said. He was dying of cancer when he made his pilgrimage to UCI. “It’s not by accident that the great artists were not in agreement not only with the establishment but also with society.”Ĭohen said the barn and the yurt are now considered historical landmarks because of the role they played in Grotowski’s life. The true art is not an obedient dog,” he said. In a rare public lecture at Irvine in 1991, Grotowski tried to explain the motives behind his life’s work. The round tent-like building is traditionally used by Central Asian nomads. He had the yurt built to provide some respite for his students. He often held classes at odd hours and had students perform physical tasks to prepare them for a performance. Grotowski’s teaching methods also were atypical. “People would say, ‘I have tickets,’ and he would say, ‘Too bad.’” “He was an odd person,” said Cohen, noting that Grotowski had a tendency to allow only a handful of people into his plays in Europe. While Grotowski was teaching at the school, his unusual disposition endeared him to his students and the faculty. Cohen thought it would be desirable to lure the director to UCI.Īfter an all-night party at Cohen’s home, Grotowski would eventually agree, provided that the barn was included in the deal. An admirer of the director, Cohen was notified by a friend that he was interested in coming to California.
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