"I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged." So wrote world renowned theatre director Peter Brook in the first paragraph of his 1968 ground breaking book "The Empty Space".

In October 2007, John Kelly met with and spoke to Peter Brooke as part of the 50th Dublin Theatre Festival. In a wide ranging interview, Brooke reflected on the human mystery of acting, the healing process of theatre, his love of cowboy films and the artistry of the Marx Brothers . On one hand he marvelled at the expertise of Hollywood films but on the other he despaired at seeing the finest young acting talent of this generation squander their gifts and stunt their creative development by accepting mediocre parts in dreadful TV series. A multiple Tony and Emmy award winner who directed Olivier, Gielgud and Scofield in Shakespeare, Beckett, Fugard, and the Greeks, Peter Brook is quite simply the greatest living theatre director.

That was world renowned theatre director Peter Brook talking to John Kelly. This interview was recorded in 2007 in association with the Dublin Theatre Festival. And listeners might like to know that this year's Dublin Theatre Festival is in full swing and booking at dublintheatrefestival.com.

Producer Kevin Reynolds