Brune, Tilney (2026) Birth of the Acteur-Auteur : authorship through history, practice, and the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq. Doctoral thesis, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Abstract

This research interrogates the definition and theory surrounding concepts of the auteur/'author', and how they are embedded within the theatre pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq (1921-1999). By first establishing the defining practices of the auteur/'author' and acteur/'actor' through genealogy of theory and practice, alongside historicization of the cultural implication from which these concepts emerged within theatre, literary and film theory in French, American, and English contexts, I establish a framework through which the practice of the acteur-auteur can be defined. Aided by the auteur theory framework proposed by Andrew Sarris, as well as Roland Barthes' thoughts on the relationship between 'author', 'reader', and 'text', I propose a critical lens through which to examine the training and overarching pedagogical philosophy of l'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. My pedagogical exploration is supported through a historicization and cultural situation of Lecoq's school, elaborating on artistic forces of influence as well as the effects of May 1968 and French Maoist philosophy on the development of key tools for the establishment of the acteur-auteur: the autocours and the enquêtes. I argue that authorial practice is fostered through a unique and shifting relationship between student and pedagogue alongside the application on 'play' and the student's ability to 'write'. I establish the link between writing and improvisation as more than setting pen on paper, but rather the intersection of movement, structure, and presence, which establishes the student's authority and agency in training. Informed by autoethnographic writing on my own embodied experience of training at l'École Jacques Lecoq (as both a student and teacher) this work functions as a proposal to reconsider Lecoq's pedagogy as 'actor training', but rather the training of the acteur-auteur and auteurial practice.