>> from our studios in new york city, this is "charlie rose." >> was it easier on draft night? >> there are so many

options. trading up and down. t is like -- >> we begin with paul allen. he is the cofounder of microsoft that made him millions of dollars. he has a very interest including neuroscience. he is the owner of the seattle seahawks. he is in new york where we talked to him this week about the chances where seattle seahawks to win the super bowl. what brought you to buying sports franchises? >> the trail blazers mom i was fan of the supersonics. right after we moved microsoft to seattle. this is the 1978 time frame. and they won the nba championship. and so every year, i would get

tickets closer and closer to the court. and just became enthralled with nba basketball. and then i was on the board with someone that said the team might be for sale. so after a six-month long process of negotiating and ok'ing -- ok'ing the deal and looking at an x-ray of sam bowie's leg and other things we were able to roach an agreement. and so i ended up owning the team. so that's my -- of the two franchises that's my longest owned nba -- professional franchise. >> and then the seahawks. >> and then the seahawks. and that was -- that was a matter of basically siffing leaders coming to me and saying, look, the team is going to end up in los angeles unless someone local steps forward and wants to take ownership of the team. and i knew that the facility the team played in, the kingdome, needed to be -- we needed to have a new facility

and redone. so i made that conditional on a referendum. we had the referendum. we had a very narrow vote. and we were able to build a new facility and i exercised my option to buy the team. and owning any professional sports franchise, i think, is a real -- it's an obligation to the community or the -- where the team plays. you have to really try to deliver an exciting team. run the franchise the right way. and you're going to have ups and downs. sports is always -- there's a bit of a feast and famine cycle. and i've been fortunate, this will be my fourth chance to win a championship in professional sports. so that prospect is always amazing. >> you also have part of a professional soccer team. >> yes. i'm a minority owner of the sounders soccer team in seattle as well. and having soccer in the stadium is also -- an integral part of getting the stadium

built. >> but you don't seem to own a team for -- as a trophy. you really seem not to need the publicity or want the publicity. you lay back. >> that's right. i think that the people that are there day to day, running the franchises are the ones that really should be front and center explaining what's happening with the team. what's happening with free agents or the draft and all those sorts of things. so i really choosed a few times a year to talk about where i see the team going. and express my philosophy, which it really is all about getting the best people in the positions to make those decisions. and letting them do their jobs and maybe kibitzing a little bit and asking a lot of tough questions. which is one of my favorite things to do. >> what are the tough questions you've been asking about the seahawks? >> well, when pete carroll and john schneider came in as the new management team, really

they had to redo the whole -- whole roster. i think there's just a few players left now from when -- from when they came in. so we had a meeting. and they -- excuse me. they show me, you know, the roster of players. and they said there's only a little over a dozen of these guys that really are our kind of players. so there's been wholesale roster change. and then you have to use free agency and drafting to complement the players that you have. so it was a long process. and i -- i kind of cautioned them, it was going to take a few years based on what they were telling me to get to where we are now. but they, you know, coaches and general managers, they want to compete right away. they want to -- they would love to be in the finals the first year. >> the future is now. >> exactly. but the reality is it takes a while to install -- to install your philosophy. >> but how involved do you get? at a certain level if they're going to pay you x amount of money to get a player that they

consider crucial, they're going to call you and say, what do you think? >> oh, sure. like, you know, when they -- were going to sign percy harvin r michael bennett or other key players, they'll tell me about the player. they'll show me some tape. they'll walk me through it. because these are significant amounts of money. and it's not just the cost. it's the impact of that kind of financial commitment is going to have to your salary cap. for a number of years in the future. so if you make a misstep there, that's going to set your franchise back. and fortunately those things have worked out really well. >> so what is the philosophy do you think that john and pete have put together that makes the seahawks in the super bowl, that puts them in the super bowl? >> well, i think, you know, oth of them are out of the box thinkers. they will -- they like speed. they like -- in some cases like cornerbacks, and receivers, they'll like larger players in

some cases. faster players. and, you know, in the case of russell wilson, they loved his level of skill. even though most people had ruled him out as a first-round pick. and i think he redid the draft today he would certainly be taken in the first round. so have the ability to think outside the box. and as a general manager you have to have what i call the golden gut. you have to have a sense of what -- what's inside a player and what's going to get that player over the top. these are such amazingly competitive sports. >> and that's what they saw in russell wilson. >> yeah. they saw that in russell wilson. basically many of the players that are on our seahawks roster. >> what's the satisfaction for you? >> i think the satisfaction comes on a number of different levels. one is just seeing how the community responds to the team. and enjoys seeing the team victorious. and supporting them. i think especially in smaller

markets, i think that comes to the fore in a pretty unique way in seattle with the 12th man. and in portland with the rip city mindset we have down there. so that's really rewarding to see the fans embrace a team in that way. and then for me, of course behind the scenes, you get to know the people. you get to know the players, the coaches. and ask good questions. see how it's all coming together. and try to make a good suggestion here or there. and so there's a satisfaction in doing that, too. and -- i'm not quite as obsessional as i used to be. in the early days, i tried to memorize the statistics of every nba player. but i'm not quite that bad anymore. >> but you do have a kind of mathematical approach to this. >> yes. but -- i mean, i think all of sports these days is becoming much more analytical. the amount of -- with -- the film "money ball" i think

showed that side of where the games have gone. so it's much more detail oriented. analytical. so there's that whole side of it. and so of course because that's a bit mathematical, i can ask some more detailed questions and those areas. >> when you bought the seahawks, did you say i've got to do this for seattle? because they had already spent a week down in l.a. >> i did. that.feel and it -- but i only wanted to do it if i felt like the team could be successful financially. because a lot of times especially in smaller markets, the team can struggle financially and lose money and it's -- it's not that much fun, the worst case scenario you're looking at is a team that underperforms and you're losing money and then you're wondering, you know, why did you do it? this is the flip side of the cone where the team is doing super well. and we're in the super bowl. so this is -- this is the moment -- every owner in the

nfl loves to be in this position. >> what role did your mother play in this? >> well, my mother was very, very enthusiastic sports fan. and my father of course took me to many football games a kid. >> to see the huskies. >> outside in the rain. and we would chomp on our hotdogs. and it was pretty much smash mouth football then. at the university of washington. so i'm not sure how exciting the games really were. but my mother really loved to go -- especially to basketball games. and we would fly down to portland for the games. and one of her hallmarks is she would scold the referees. she would say now, excuse me, certify, but that wasn't a very good call. and they would -- give her a funny look or whatever. but she in fairness was really important to her. so i guess that sensitized me to be orvet about those things. -- observent those things. and makes you -- she really

cared about the players. and i feel the same way. about my -- about my -- the athletes. >> care about them in what way? >> you want to see them successful. you want to make sure all the medical treatments and all the -- all the things you can do to provide a path to success is there. and if they have any issues, there are people there to help them deal with their issues. so i think that's -- that's something that i don't know how many people should actually become sports owners unless they feel that way about -- about their athletes. because, you know, these sports are very physical. they're very intense. there are going to be ups and downs and you want to be there to support the players any way you can. >> do you worry about all the studies about concussions and what it's doing to players and how you can get ahead of that? and what changes you can make? >> of course.

you know, we have to get a better understanding of all the ramifications of concussions. what the right protocols are. and i think the league -- the league stepped up. we're doing much more thorough assessment of i think you've seen this this season of when concussions, might be a concussion occurs, the player goes to the locker room and assessed and all of those things. and we have to start -- you've seen this. some adjustments of the rules to try to prevent concussions. but there are many things we don't understand. for example, who's more susceptible to concussions? and is one player more susceptible than another? but the problem is the brain is such a complex organ. that -- and i know this from the research being done at my brain institute that's going to take us a number of years to come -- in particular conclusions on these things. but i just felt it was

incumbent on me since i have people studying the brain to try to help out on that area. >> your mother had alzheimer's. >> that's correct. yeah. >> and watched the impact of that. wes a brain disease. >> yes. and anybody who's -- who's had that in their family had that experience, it's truly -- it's truly horrific. and very tough for everybody involved. and so if you can -- if you can potentially help bring forward treatments for alzheimer's or parkinson's or lou gehrig's disease, any of these things, that's a wonderful prospect. so hopefully out of the basic research we're doing at me brane institute there will be some treatments that will be brought forward. >> let me stay back with seattle. when you look at this team, what is it you like about the team? >> well, there's -- i guess there's a number of things. it's -- we're a very young team.

but the team that pete and john have built there, again, it's -- a lot of it is about speed and grittiness and determination. and fearlessness. and pete kind of uefeekly gives the players the ability to express themselves, to be who they are. and i think that's really a trend more and more in sports. i think today's players do much more of that. you see much more of that activity on everything from social networks to the omnipresent coverage that you get on all the different sports channels. so pete kind of uniquely celebrates that. and yet, within a framework that -- because you have to have the -- the discipline to take that energy that you get from that and focus it on what you need to do every weekend to win a game. so all of that comes together and pete makes it all fun.

you've seen some of the clips in the locker room where pete's going through all the different contributions during the game. and the guys are -- it's almost a college level of enthusiasm in the locker room that having been an owner and seeing previous coaches, that's pretty unique. >> were you surprised you could get him because he had a good thing down at u.s.c.? >> i was. i was. he had had such tremendous success. u.s.c. was national championships. and i think one of the things he does is he -- he has the team prepare each week as if it was a championship game. and at a very high level but not to get too high or too low. from one week to the next. so that's -- that's a pretty unique approach to have that level of expectation and steadiness at the same time. >> so what might have been the conversation between pete and sherman? >> i think, you know, i think

richard sherman in the moment, you know, there was such excitement, he was full of adrenalin after being in san francisco. and i think he let loose a little bit. and i think pete's point to him was you got to think about that moment. it could be a little bit of a distraction for the team. so celebrate -- celebrate the moment. and i think richard has -- subsequently richard has explained many times, was in the moment. that's not really me. don't judge me just from that moment. so i think it's fine. >> was it a distraction? >> in the end. i think there's so much coverage. and i think that was just one moment. and i think now that people have gotten to know or -- richard through the extensive coverage we've had this week, i don't think it's a factor anymore. >> every time i look at a quote from you about him, you talk about intelligence.

>> richard's a stanford graduate. he's extremely bright. and if you think about -- i think -- in terms of study, and film study and all those things, if you think of all the rules are kind of tilted against you as a defensive player. you have to study film and really think about the theory of all the definite routes and react in real time and be able to anticipate. and people will tell you, you know, it's not like richard is the fastest cornerback or anything else. but it's his intelligence that enables him to make a lot of those plays that he makes. >> it is also interesting about him. is that when he was formerly a wide receiver -- >> right. >> and he became a cornerback. >> right. >> john harbaugh i think. >> right. >> and then he wasn't drafted in the first round and as hoped it might be or in the second

round. there is about him it seems to me a kind of intensity to believe in himself. and everything that is an expression of that. >> right. well, i think some players, you know, especially ones taken in the later rounds as you're pointing out have a bit of a chip on their shoulder. and they want to go over and above, overcome that to prove that they belong. and sometimes they accomplish wonderful things. and i think in russell wilson's case, a lot of people didn't see -- they thought he was a great college quarterback but he wasn't going to be able to do it at the same level in the pros. but he's overcome that. with study and preparation and of course just his talent in every other area. >> do you worry about the fact that the seahawks have done better at home than they have on the road? >> i think we had a pretty good -- i'm trying to think. i think our road record this week was 6-2. but i think we've done -- >> what was it at home? >> i think it was 7-1.

so -- because we only lost three games. so it was -- but the 12th man, the 12th man in seattle is uniquely powerful force on the football field. which i think any opposing player would tell you. and of course the super bowl is played on neutral ground. typically. so that's -- that won't be -- that won't be a factor except all the seahawks fans will be at the game this weekend. >> what are you worried about? at the super bowl? >> in the super bowl? in the super bowl, the broncos are a great team. they've got a hall of fame quarterback that's had an amazing year. so -- and he on the field in effect operates as a coach. and he's -- he's seeing what the defense is doing. he's in effect calling all the plays. so he's a uniquely talented

individual. so the question is, all of that offensive skill, versus our top rated defense. so that's going to be a very, very interesting thing to watch. and then i think our offense has a chance to prove that they can do more than other -- than people think they can. so that's going to be very interesting to see. >> ok. so what questions are you going to ask of your coaches? what is it you want to know? >> because the detailed strategy, if you think about it, like just the preparation of a russell wilson, he watched every -- he really admires drew brees and he would watch -- like this last summer, he watched every throw drew brees had made as a professional quarterback. >> every throw? >> every throw. i believe. so i'm sure our coaches, are dissecting every pass peyton

manning made this year. every -- every defense that worked against him. the ones that didn't. how can we bring our best players to bear against stopping their passing attack? and stopping their running attack. they're a very well rounded team. so -- and then on the offensive side, what are we going to do uniquely? because you have to -- you have to throw some -- you can't just be conventional. you have to throw some surprises. >> you want to know what the surprises might be. >> i do. >> at least the owner wants to know that. >> i have to admit that i do and i usually talk to coach carroll before every game. and i say ok, what are the wrinkles this weekend? and he's got a couple of them ready to go. >> what was the best one during the season? >> boy, the best one. i'm not sure i can remember a best one. i remember not that long ago, he said that they were going to run a little sweep with percy harvin that -- and percy hasn't of course been able to play in that many games this year.

and sure enough, they ran it and i think it picked up nine yards. but there are all those -- those little details. football is such a detail-oriented game. as compard to other sports. all those little details can add up to making the difference. because in every game, there's a few explosive plays that can change the whole outcome. whereas in basketball any particular basket may or may not be critical unless it's at the end of the game. >> will bill gates be watching the super bowl? >> unfortunately, bill couldn't make it. because he's spending time with warren buffett, i believe. but he's going to be watching. and rooting us on. >> microsoft. they're still looking for a c.e.o. why can't they find a c.e.o.? >> well, i'm not -- i'm not really -- obviously i know bill. but i'm not close to the board process. but if you think about it, from the job of running microsoft is one of the -- and i used to

tell steve ballmer this is one of the toughest jobs in the world because you're competing with so many different companies. you have so many different products. and so any new c.e.o. coming in has to decide, do they continue to compete in so many areas? or do they jettison some of the larger investments that have already been made? and focus down on less -- on a lesser number of -- >> what would you recommend? >> to do that, i would have to really get in there myself. and i just try to give my advice on the outside. i think they'll probably be some amount of simplification. but the argument i think basically is if you -- if you're thinking about the future of computing platforms, smart phones, or laptops or whatever, can you -- something like search, is something like search, which google dominates right now, is something like that integral to what you want to do in the future? or can you focus on other areas? and not pursue search? so those are really, really

hard decisions. >> there are many people, bill has said that he will not leave the foundation to go back and run microsoft. is it a good idea or not a good idea for bill to return and run microsoft? >> well, i think all of these -- all of these -- all of these roles are so challenging. and i think bill's doing so much with his foundations that to throw himself back in to running microsoft, which is really -- it's one of those jobs that's almost a 24-hour a day job. i think -- i think that's unlikely. but i wouldn't want -- >> but it's his baby and your baby and so it's hard to not want to see. >> which is why both of us, more so him than me, but we both tried to give the company advice. i've tried to give steve ballmer advice on fine tuning their strategy. but it's really hard to make those judgments and final assessments unless you're the one running the ship.

>> there's also argued that with respect to microsoft, that there may be a -- there may be a lesson in terms of the way you run your sports franchise. it's better if you just simply give to the person you choose to run it all the latitude to run it. and then as long as bill is there, it's kind -- and on the board, as steve is on the board. they're looking over the c.e.o.'s shoulder. >> that's a fine line you would have to walk if you were going to be more involved in -- than a typical board member and i have no idea how that's going to play out. obviously somebody of bill's stature you're going to want to listen to their advice and they're going to have decades of perspective on where the company is going and what the competition is doing. so you want to take -- if you're the new c.e.o. you want to take that advice and fold that into your thinking. but in the end, you have to

make some of these key decisions and have some latitude there as well. >> we talked about this at the time of your book. what's the essential difference between you and bill? >> bill is -- bill focuses -- bill has a laser-like ability to focus on a single problem. and kind of more of an affinity for business-related things than -- especially in the early days than i did. so i would -- i would spend my time more thinking about where's technology going, what's the future going to be like? i used to say follow the chips. wherever the chips are going to evolve to we need to have products to take advantage of the new chips that were coming down the pike. bill was more focused on the competitive side of things. and bill is -- and steve ballmer are both both super competitive people. >> more competitive than you are?

>> well, i'm thinking about the future. and i want to -- i want to create an outcome. but some people are just -- they have competition in their blood. they want -- they thrive on being involved in competitive business atmosphere i guess i would say. >> and you don't have that? >> no. believe me, i'm competitive as anybody when it comes to sports. but being a sports franchise owner. but i'm just -- i'm just trying to communicate that some people when it comes to the one-on-one competition, they're just -- very much more focused there. certain people like -- i don't know if you've interviewed michael jordan. >> yes. >> bill gates. you must know some others that have that level of competition. and i'm more -- i guess i'm -- i'm competitive. if i'm in a competitive situation. but i'm thinking more about futures. >> any regrets, paul, the life you've lived? >> look, everybody looks back

on their life. and they say i could have done these things differently. i could have hired this general manager instead of that one and drafted this player instead of that one. i could have been in more bands. there are many things. i think we all have things, if you look back, you could have changed. but you live your life as it unreels. and so all you can do is learn from those things and have a -- have a better life as you go forward. >> where do you put family, marriage, children? >> oh, i said before, i'd like to have children in the family just hasn't happened yet. but i'm an eternal optimist. >> but at this moment in your life, nothing, nothing would please you more than to see on your fourth try to win the ultimate championship in professional sports? >> that would be truly amazing. and i would just be so happy for everybody in the northwest that's followed the team.

and everybody in the organization, the players, would just be a peak experience. and you don't have that many peak experiences at the summit of sports. chances for it and you talk to other owners, there are not that many chances to get to the super bowl. i was at the giants facility yesterday watching the team practice and they have the super bowl banners. experience in that myself is something i've dreamed about. >> thank you. great to see you. ♪ >> everything left is doing what one can do. you should feel a much more directed. everything is suggestion. >> peter brook is here. one person wrote his theatrical mission is to wage a war on the

habitual to take text to a place to both mystery and enjoy. [laughter] he has kept his rehearsals private. a new documentary by his son takes us into his process. here is the trailer. "the tightrope." ♪ >> let's start with something simple. imagine on this carpet an imaginary tightrope. a line here. ♪ the nature of the rope, the reality of the rope is the basis. ok. ♪

the possible and impossible at the same time. people come together. whatf them are saying, is it about? what are we doing here? it is real, it is alive. it does not have one. balance is between going forward toward an aim. at the same time, keeping all of the elements under control. more than anything else, under strict, demanding, razor edge

on the tight rope. >> i am very pleased to have peter brook back at this table. welcome. why are you doing this? what are you teaching us? >> two simple things. teaching, i cannot accept for one moment. i spent all of my school days fighting against teachers. and the whole of the work has been done. it is to share lessons evolve and adapt always to the moment we are living in. for everyone, neither with an audience nor actors to be a fascist and force an idea, a notion of anybody. something that is arrived, a shared interest and awakened. and then everybody can go home

to draw their own conclusions. be takenpoint to wheter -- whether a film or a play, there is no point unless there's something you take away, something you are sure about. something reopened. although the rest is not worth it. >> why are you doing it now? the film? >> the film, it seems to me all of the exercises we have done over the years and toured with group of directors in a different countries like israel and south africa, such a different groups of people. one exercise suddenly arose which i had come back to. it seemed central. and as it was a teaching exercise and was not anything that could do any harm to

people, take it and use it their own way. i was delighted to have the opportunity to make it with a group of people. the life is here to have the opportunity to make it, filmed by simon. the understanding. it could really do something, perhaps could be useful. there is only one criteria. in life at any level, anything becomes happy to be doing or has done is if somebody comes back to you and said -- that help to me. and then you think it is worth it. >> exactly. i share that. tell me about, we saw the rope on the carpet. tell me about that. what is happening? >> you are right in the heart of theater. there was no rope, just the

carpet. and then there was the compelling strength of an actor's imagination which is not just not there. it spreads in every part of the body. that is my body exercises, part of the necessary development when acting. at that moment, the actor is so convinced of the tight rope that we are ready to go along with it. that is why this exercise is so demanding. he has to be faithful to that. if you carry it away and this was something that is coming up all of the time when we do this exercise, if one moment his foot which he is concentrating on putting his feet truly on the carpet and if it goes there, if he is honest. i stopped him and tell him to look.

he has to fall. again, to get going, all of these, these little piecings have to wither away until you cannot really for a long time to develop very difficult things. an actor alone doing difficult acrobatics knowing that because it is theater, he can do dangerous things and there is no danger whatsoever. he can take extraordinary risks. he's up there on the tight rope. at the same time, he is honest enough if he makes a mistake to fall, this can develop through the next point. i could do was to actors and actors andth 2 then three at the same time. and then the whole process begins because you have to be true to yourself and to where

your feet are and where your eyes are and your body's balance and listening to the others and interacting with the others. [laughter] >> take a look at this clip. >> ♪ >> try to always keep the absolute logic, come up the middle and kneel there. imagine you are genuinely kneeling there. the ceiling. the body, you are on a rope. without it being in danger.

it is a natural movement. yeah. something that defies the feeling of the feet. the nature of the rope even if you do a turn or a jump, the reality of the rope is the basis. ok. continue. ♪ >> what did you think of that? you have said the following. "the particular gift of an actor is a certain link between the pure imagination and the body itself." what do you mean? >> pure imagination. it is something going on in the head. it can go very far. flash, ask for

all of the invisible through the body. it makes actors want to do this because they themselves at that moment feel more alive. that is our goal. one of the many visionaries. when he was so young, he said, if it is only when i am acting that i feel alive, is a tragic thing to say. one would hope that you feel alive and other things. it is a little pinpoint. a vision of what he is expanding. the expansion of being an actor can give short moments. an actor usually does not go beyond that to see how he can -- how he can develop himself so that he actually carries something of that into life.

very rare. he has moments that are blissful times of great moments. better than he ever did when he goes home. to make the link that something is very rare. >> you say it is quintessential that an actor has a sense of time, an internal hourglass reminding that actor that every grain in that hourglass counts. >> you are quoting from my new book on shakespeare. this whole chapter, this is the only real difference i hope between everyday life and theater. theater is a mirror held up to life. the difference is in a great

play like "king lear," it can be shared in a couple of hours. what does it mean? everybody who goes to the theater knows, you cannot let the audience go. if you have an audience that will sit back and look at their program or pick up their cell phone, you know you have lost. every second, you have to have a within you this invisible hourglass. you are feeling this -- tick, tock. every tock wakes you up. this must be maintained and renewed whether playwriting or editing. it is common to cinema and film and television. one of the things i said about you, charlie, one of the great pleasures about him being interviewed by you as 9/10 of

the time is looking at you a you can see going through his head what he is looking for. is he going too long? what about my next question? looking at you, you can see a man in the moment. >> "king lear," i just saw frank langella. what is it about "king lear?" this one is 3 hours. >> to me -- 2 total advanced masterpieces that dominate all western writing. one is -- and the other is a "king lear." for the same reasons. you have so many strands of

life. you can take anything out of this, a good playwright can make a whole play. the theme of power, absolute power. when they feel it is the moment to announce the power. what it is? so rarely understood. i had a magnificent actress who played the role from her point of view. the daughter who suddenly, dad comes to stay and moves it to the house with 100 drunken followers and the servants come to her to complain saying we cannot go on like this. you can understand everybody's point of view. it goes on and on through the

shades of madness, necessity gradually loses. the king learning like a president to learn you have to go and be close to common people to realize the hypocrisy. i would not going to all of those things. >> go on, i am interested. >> shakespeare need a device to show the secret voice which makes lear a person. if you showed king lear as an old man, you destroy the whole play. if you see that within this tremendously popular tyrant that is a fine, sensitive, most small boy that is almost completely crushed in him.

this voice is not completely submerged and shakespeare shows this. not by having a voice like in a movie or doing monologues. you have the fool as the inner voice of lear telling him the truth which he is forced to recognize. he is angry. he encourages the fool to go on and tell him the truth. >> is he mad at the beginning? >> no, not remotely. he is a man. that is why any attempt to play lear -- you would've missed the whole play. it is a strong man to fall. he is a president on top.

he surprises everybody by saying, time is up. i am retiring. he is the shrewdest of politicians because he gives of his speech, 2 valid reasons that only an experienced, resourceful, cunning statesman could do. he said it's for future strife to be anointed now. future strife. he at once sees as he withdraws, the republicans or the democrats, fighting, who is going to his place? he knows his daughters inside and out and their strengths and weaknesses and their husbands. there can only be clash. thank god it is familiar. she will have as big a voice as something could all the time be

a tight rope and rebalance. there's only the tragedy, it is only possible when the situation arises when cordelia refuses to play the game and make a flattering speech. you see the two daughters are not wicked in doing speeches, they accept this is what is excepted. she is a revolutionary and she will not play the game. all of that could be harmless. if not for the fact he has such strength in him and passion and pride that he explodes. that is a tragic mistake. the play has to rush like an express train. >> what is the best king lear you have ever saw? >> you put me on the spot.

i am forced to say scoffield. >> you are not the only one to say it. he took liberty with text? >> no. the liberties he took was on the academic rules about this or that. he knew all of that. he worked from the immediate sense coming up to the performance of the meaning. each night, that could change to put the stress on more of one word or less one word or where it came a much later. the rhythms were always on the move. his verse speeching was totally within the verse. our friend peter hall was saying for him the best of speaking is like free jazz. the beat.

the melody is free. the trumpet can float over it. >> you also, the suit starts in a multicity tour in michigan. >> i can't. my close collaboration, working closely on every aspect. >> tell me briefly about the suit. >> the suit, if you remember, when we last talked. we spoke about the suit and the suit is very strange. somehow, when we did the first french version, we set it very much in south african realistically and that is the background. south african music of the time and so on. gradually in redoing it, the english version, we found that of course, the story of king lear, there has to be a concrete

place where it is taking place to be interested and believe in it. for once, we see it is universal. that is why within the play itself, there is this line, it can only have taken place in countries, not just in south africa, countries under the iron fist of oppression that is to say that the pressure on a young man in trying to make his way into the world with a young wife and feeling that he has to hold onto something. the pressure, the social pressure on him and those situations could make his mind go to real terrifying extremes that i hope neither you and i will ever experience. to conceive this punishment, for a moment, the small instability,

the wife felt life at home was too closed and she wanted to breathe a bit and have a bit of freedom. he could've got over. they could've made it. in the conditions which relived -- which were lived and into whose mind came the story, when you are under such a terrible pressure, strange things. the invention of this punishment of her having to live day and night in bed at every table with the suit to remind her, to punish her that they have to take a walk on a sunday with the suit being carried by her is a terrifying and yet completely understandable if you put it today. in one of the many countries like syria today, the cruelty

and misery of being in syria today. a husband and wife could not be the same. >> it starts february 17 in ann arbor, michigan. the film you havebeen seeing excerpts on, january 31. thank you, peter. >> thank you. >> peter brook. thank you for joining us. see you next time. ♪

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