Yoshi Oida

If you want to communicate in the global, technological, multicultural world of the '90s, says actor Yoshi Oida, try getting fluent in the language of the body. "Speech is the lowest form of communication in theater and life," argues this Paris-based, Japanese-born Peter Brook disciple whose irrepressible giggle and physical energy make him seem a generation younger than his 57 years.

There are few who would not rank the English director Peter Brook among the most influential theater makers of the last four decades. Brook's theatrical manifestoes have left their mark on a generation of drama students, while his productions continue to challenge our conception of theater as a mirror of reality. Brook creates his own realities.

Those who saw Yoshi Oida in Peter Brook's "The Mahabharata" at the 1987 Los Angeles Festival know he's a galvanic actor: visceral and vibrantly expressive with both words and movement. But those who see his "Interrogations"--a solo performance, with music by Dieter Trustedt--will get only a glimpse of these talents, the man without the fireworks.

Those who saw Yoshi Oida in Peter Brook's "The Mahabharata" at the 1987 Los Angeles Festival know he's a galvanic actor: visceral and vibrantly expressive with both words and movement. But those who see his "Interrogations"--a solo performance, with music by Dieter Trustedt--will get only a glimpse of these talents, the man without the fireworks.

There are few who would not rank the English director Peter Brook among the most influential theater makers of the last four decades. Brook's theatrical manifestoes have left their mark on a generation of drama students, while his productions continue to challenge our conception of theater as a mirror of reality. Brook creates his own realities.

Despite its arresting visual style, its wave after wave of creative and hypnotic images, "The Pillow Book," as its name hints, slowly but inexorably leads to sleep. Written and directed by Peter Greenaway, "The Pillow Book" is more coherent and plotted than his last film, the understandably little seen "The Baby of Macon."

"The Mahabharata": a book like no other. And a theatrical journey like no other. Arduous? Yes. Worth taking? Yes. Transforming? Too early to say. The physical side first. (If there's one thing that "The Mahabharata" is sure of, it's that we have bodies.) Saturday's U.S. premiere of Peter Brook and Jean-Claude Carriere's stage version of India's mother-epic took more than eight hours to perform. Not eight hours straight.

If you want to communicate in the global, technological, multicultural world of the '90s, says actor Yoshi Oida, try getting fluent in the language of the body. "Speech is the lowest form of communication in theater and life," argues this Paris-based, Japanese-born Peter Brook disciple whose irrepressible giggle and physical energy make him seem a generation younger than his 57 years.