As brilliant an analysis of the thrust stage, its making of conflict, and the need for imagination as you’ll find.
Theater Legends: Michael Langham Part 1 “Confidence and Guthrie’s Discovery of the Thrust Stage”
June 22, 2013Michael Langham was the greatest theater mind I’ve known. I was lucky enough to be in the Guthrie company for five years, beginning with Michael’s world premiere production of Alexander Solzhnitsyn’s “A Play” in 1970. He had a special affinity for the Russian novelist having spent World War II in a German prison camp. Michael …continue reading »
Theater Legends: Sir Tyrone Guthrie
June 16, 2013This is the fiftieth year anniversary of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. There are many galas and events on the schedule, in their new multi-million dollar complex overlooking the Mississippi. The original theater, seating 1400, designed by Ralph Rapson with an exquisite thrust stage designed by Tanya Moiseiwisch, was where I worked and learned about …continue reading »
Huck Finn on “Kings”
June 9, 2013I’d love to have the resources to take a book like “Tale of Two Cities” or “Huckleberry Finn” and do a Parson’s Nose adaptation and presentation. These book are inherently dramatic and should be explored ala Nicholas Nickleby. The use of language is the best we’ll read and hear in our lifetimes. In this passage …continue reading »
O. Henry: The Skylight Room
June 5, 2013I’m looking at material for next season. My sister Terry sent me an anthology edited by Alexander Woollcott that our father read to us, “As You Were”. It was a compendium of poems and stories that service men and women could carry with them in WWII. Each entry is a delightful truffle. The following is …continue reading »
Theater Tales: John Barrymore and Richard III
June 4, 2013They tell the story of young actor John Carradine, who came to Hollywood in awe of Barrymore. He was summoned to the mansion and they discussed interpretations of Shakespeare’s Richard III, his most notorious villain. Carradine went on at some length about his own interpretation, citing “The Method” and “Stanislavski” and Freud. After some time …continue reading »
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