Herbert Blue

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Herbert Blau (born May 3, 1926 in Brooklyn , New York City , † May 3, 2013 in Seattle , Washington ) was an American theater director and author .

Live and act

Herbert Blau was born in Brooklyn on May 3, 1926 . His father was a plumber by trade.

In 1947 Herbert Blau graduated from New York University with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering . As he wrote for the school newspaper at school , he decided to change direction and become a stage poet. He also wrote plays during his studies, with which he applied to Yale and Stanford . Both universities offered him scholarships . At Stanford University he made two further degrees, a master's in acting in 1949 and a doctorate in American and English literature in 1954 . He also married the actress Beatrice Manley .

Together with Jules Irving, a professor at San Francisco State University , Herbert Blau founded the Actor's Workshop in San Francisco (1952–1965), where artists could push the boundaries of commercial theater through sophisticated experimental plays. In 1957 the group performed for the inmates of Quentin State Prison and showed the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. As co-director of the Repertory Theater in Lincoln Center in New York City (1965-1967) introduced Herbert to American audiences the avant-garde - theater as one of the first productions of the country before, in which pieces of Samuel Beckett , Jean Genet , Bertolt Brecht and Harold Pinter were shown.

In 1968 Herbert signed the Writers and Editors War Tax Protest and swore not to pay taxes in order to protest against the Vietnam War .

After Herbert had been Dean and Head of the newly designed California Institute of the Arts for three years , he formed the experimental group KRAKEN in 1971 , with which he presented sophisticated productions for a decade. Two books that emerged from the productions of the period, Take Up the Bodies: Theater at the Vanishing Point (University of Illinois Press, 1982) and Blooded Thought: Occasions of Theater (Performing Arts Journal Publications, 1982) received the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramaturgical criticism.

In 1980 Herbert divorced his wife. They had three children: Dick Blau , Tara Gwyneth Blau, and Jonathan Blau. Herbert married again, the marriage lasted until his death. The second marriage results in a daughter.

In addition to the theater, Herbert has taken up the subjects of literature , the fine arts , fashion , postmodernism and politics .

The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) awarded Herbert Blau an honorary doctorate in humanities in May 2008 .

Herbert Blau died on his 87th birthday May 3, 2013 Seattle to cancer .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ New York Times: Herbert Blau, Iconoclastic Theater Director, Dies at 87 (English).
  2. ↑ Los Angeles Times: Herbert Blau dies at 87; theater director helped shape CalArts .
  3. ^ New York Post Writers and Editors War Tax Protest (Jan. 30, 1968).
  4. ↑ Babylonfalling: If a thousand man were not to pay their tax-bills this year (English).
  5. ^ New York Times: Herbert Blau, Iconoclastic Theater Director, Dies at 87 (English).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Blue, Herbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American author and theater director
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York City
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 2013
Place of death Seattle , Washington