Watching after many years the documentaries of performances of the 'Laboratory Theatre', Grotowski discovered that they were sung performances, of which fact he had not been aware. They were also danced. Grotowski had already come up with the idea of a dancing actor when he was working on 'Shakuntala' (1960). A very important inspiration to him was a short text, which he had read as a student (1950-1955), by M. Limanowski - 'Sztuka aktora' (Actor's Craft) (1919), while Limanowski himself became one of the forerunners of theatre anthropology. In his work Grotowski revived the antique tradition of the triune unity of chorea - music, dance and singing united in one whole, the thread of which was dance. Here came to life, 'unprecedented in the history of theatre, the creation of the formula of a performance of initiation ritual (...), the innovation of which was the result of reaching out to the archaic sources of theatre' (L. Flaszen). 'Action' (staged from 1988 onwards) combines both the Christian and the mystery traditions. The symbolism of initiation, common to Dionysus, Zagreus and Jesus, is related to the god-child and it reveals the mystery of 'rebirth', as in 'an ethnodrama', 'a dramatic religion'.
The interest in Gurdjieff disclosed by Grotowski was the outcome of his years-long friendship with Peter Brook, starting with the 1960s. Its evidence includes the correspondence, cited in the article, between the Customs Office in Zgorzelec and Jędrzej Selle (in 1966-1971 deputy head of administration at the Laboratorium Theatre in Wroclaw, in 1972-1978 head of organization entrusted with the duties of deputy director), who in December 1968 brought Grotowski's books over to Poland. The more than ten titles, primarily classics of literature, philosophy and mysticism, included French translations of Gurdjieff's 'Belzebub's Tales to His Grandson', 1950 (Récits de Belzébuth a son petit-fils) and P. D. Uspiensky's 'In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching', 1949 (Fragments d'un enseignement inconnu), highly regard by the Gurdjieff circles. In the light of the documents cited in the article the beginnings of more profound interest in Gurdjieff could be dated as 1968. The author discusses the copy of Uspiensky's book given to him by Grotowski in 1982, prior to his final departure from Poland. He also recalls that the part of the young Gurdjieff in Jeanne de Salzmann's and Peter Brook's 'Meetings with Remarkable Men' (1978) was supposed to have been played by Ryszard Cieslak. Grotowski was not interested in having some of his texts, originally published in the West, translated in Poland. They included his study on Gurdjieff - 'A Kind of Volcano. An Interview with Jerzy Grotowski', based on three meetings with Michel de Salzmann in Paris in 1991, published in French in Switzerland in 1992, and in English in the USA in 1996. In this case, however, the Polish translation was issued in November 2001, almost three years after Grotowski's death. His heirs agreed to the request made by Peter Brook, who turned to them in connection with a publication prepared upon the occasion of a conference held in Wroclaw - 'Towards the essence. Georgiy Ivanovich Gurdjieff - impact and significance'. It is a great pity that we do not have at our disposal a precise list of Grotowski's book collection, and that all chances for such a list will be lost irreversibly. Grotowski was to a considerable degree influenced by a dialogue with certain book, as the author mentioned more extensively in the article 'Dzielo Jerzego Grotowskiego jako przedmiot badan' (The Works of Jerzy Grotowski as a Topic of Research), published in 'Konteksty' (60(2006) Nr 1(272)). Finally, he also mentions that Grotowski never connected his name with any of the Gurdjieff groups; on the other hand, he harboured the conviction, which he shared with others about the absence of any sort of a missionary inclination both on the part of Gurdjieff himself and his followers. Naturally, we cannot exclude the possibility that even if he had not met Peter Brook, Grotowski could have stumbled upon Gurdjieff in some other way. These are, however, mere speculations which it is best to evade.
This text emerged gradually in the course of several years. Its consecutive stages were composed of author's presentations at numerous conferences and symposia dedicated to Jerzy Grotowski. For many people Grotowski was, and remains primarily a «spiritual master», a sage and a guru, while others consider him to be an outstanding politician and strategist who managed to successfully tackle even the most difficult circumstances. The author regards Grotowski from the very outset as a great artist, which he remained throughout his entire life. Would we be discussing Grotowski, however, if not for his theatre achievements, those several plays which have become part of world theatre history: 'Akropolis' (Acropolis), 'Tragiczne dzieje doktora Fausta' (The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus), 'Ksiaze Niezlomny' (The Constant Prince), or 'Apocalypsis cum Figuris'? And does the other reason not lie in his rank in the art of the theatre, achieved primarily thanks to productions dating from the 1960s? Let us also not omit the fact that if it were not for the theatrical stage in Grotowski's life all his subsequent experiences and eventual artistic efforts would have assumed an entirely different form. There is no one way of experiencing Grotowski's accomplishments, nor is there an exclusive truth about him. Lastly, the author calls for care, patience and the avoidance of all «shortcuts», since the only thing of which he can be certain is his firm conviction that in this case all shortcuts are a mere mirage.
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