Group Theater
The Group Theater was a free American theater company founded in New York in 1931 by Harold Clurman , Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg .
history
The founders of the Group Theater gathered around them young actors who followed the theater theories of the Russian theater teacher Stanislavsky . They wanted to transfer the previously unknown naturalistic game, which the founders got to know during stays at the Moscow artistic theater, to American conditions. The word Group (group) should symbolize that a theater company from the interplay lives and no stars needed. The ensemble sometimes lived together as a commune to work on theatrical performances. The group included directors , actors , playwrights and producers . The pieces and themes they chose for their productions mostly had a socially critical approach and tried to bring the current political and economic problems to the stage. Some of the members belonged to the Communist Party of the United States during this period and were targeted by the anti-communist investigation of the Committee on Un-American Activities in the late 1940s and early 1950s . The Group Theater disbanded in 1941. Some of the members advanced to screen stars, successful Broadway and film directors and authors.
In 1947 members of the group formed the Actors Studio , which is still one of the most important acting schools in the USA and has produced some of the most important actors in the country.
Members of the Group Theater
Stella Adler , Luther Adler , Lee Strasberg , Morris Carnovsky , Phoebe Brand , J. Edward Bromberg , Lee J. Cobb , Howard Da Silva , Jules Dassin , Frances Farmer , John Garfield , Will Geer , Roman Bohnen , Michael Gordon , Paul Green , Elia Kazan , Robert Lewis , Sanford Meisner , Clifford Odets , John Randolph , Martin Ritt , Irwin Shaw , Franchot Tone and others v. a.
Important productions
- 1931: The House of Connelly by Paul Green
- 1931: 1931 by Claire Sifton and Paul Sifton
- 1932: Night over Taos by Maxwell Anderson
- 1932: Success Story by John Howard Lawson
- 1933: Men in White by Sidney S. Kingsley
- 1935: Awake and Sing! by Clifford Odets
- 1935: Waiting For Lefty by Clifford Odets
- 1935: Til the Day I Die by Clifford Odets
- 1935: Paradise Lost by Clifford Odets
- 1936: Johnny Johnson by Paul Green and Kurt Weill (music)
- 1936: Case of Clyde Griffiths by Erwin Piscator and Lena Goldschmidt
- 1937: Golden Boy by Clifford Odets
- 1938: Rocket to the Moon by Clifford Odets
- 1939: The Gentle People by Irwin Shaw
- 1939: My Heart's in the Highlands by William Saroyan and Paul Bowles (music)
- 1940: Night Music by Clifford Odets and Hanns Eisler (music)
- 1940: Retreat to Pleasure by Irwin Shaw
literature
- Harold Clurman: The Fervent Years: The Story of the Croup Theater and the Thirties , New York 1945