Abstract
This thesis focuses on examining director and theatre method innovator Jerzy Grotowski’s argument that theatre can do what film cannot: involve the spectator permitting a connection. By comparing the methods and theories of film director Stanley Kubrick and Jerzy Grotowski, I introduce a new analysis and comparison of theatre and film. This thesis is the first to challenge Grotowski’s view and show the similarities between theatre and film by studying Grotowski’s Akropolis and Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. I argue that Kubrick can involve the audience by using similar methods, techniques, and theories as Grotowski. In my analysis, I am suggesting that these similarities can be seen through Theatre of the Absurd, auteurism, and mise-en-scene.