© in This Web Service Cambridge University
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
BACKSTORY: the CREDITS an Actor
BACKSTORY Your behind-the-scenes look at TimeLine productions YESTERDAY’S STORIES. TODAY’S TOPICS. From Artistic Director PJ Powers a message Dear Friends, that their “Person of the — can influence history is made With his blend of social classic for the ages. You just Year” was You. Me. Us. The through activism, be On behalf of TimeLine’s not only in commentary and might be surprised that the average citizen. it personal, social or entire company, I am government emotional complexity, age in which it was written political. thrilled to welcome you to Admittedly, upon first buildings and Odets revolutionized the really is not our own! our 11th season! Each year hearing that, I thought There are many complex at corporate American theater during As we usher in a second we go through a series of it was a poor excuse for issues — not the least of board tables, but in the The Depression by putting decade of making history at discussions about the issues not choosing a person of which will be a Presidential homes and workplaces of the struggles and longings TimeLine, we’re delighted and types of stories we national prominence — a election — that will demand people like you and me. of everyday citizens on the to share another Odets stage. With Paradise Lost, want explore, and this year single someone who had great thoughtfulness in the We begin our season-long play with you. With much he gives voice to those our deliberations seemed made a sizeable imprint on coming year. Each of us will conversation by revisiting to discuss, I hope our little individuals and exposes a even more extensive and issues of global importance. -
Awake and Sing! Study Guide/Lobby Packett Prepared by Sara Freeman, Dramaturg
Awake and Sing! Study Guide/Lobby Packett Prepared by Sara Freeman, dramaturg Section I Clifford Odets: A Striving Life Clifford Odets was born in Philadelphia, on July 18, 1906, the son of a working-class Jewish family made good. Louis Odets, his father, had been a peddler, but also worked as a printer for a publishing company. In 1908, Louis Odets moved his family to New York City, where, after a brief return to Philadelphia, he prospered as a printer and ended up owning his own plant and an advertising agency, as well as serving as a Vice President of a boiler company. Odets grew up in the middle-class Bronx, not the Berger’s Bronx of tenements and squalor. Still Odets described himself as a “melancholy kid” who clashed often with his father. Odets quit high school after two years. When he was 17, Odets plunged into the theatre. He joined The Drawing Room Players and Harry Kemp’s Poets’ Theater. He wrote some radio plays, did summer stock, and hit the vaudeville circuit as “The Roving Reciter.” In 1929, he moved into the city because of a job understudying Spencer Tracy in Conflict on Broadway. A year later Odets joined the nascent Group Theatre, having met Harold Clurman and some of the other Group actors while playing bit parts at the Theatre Guild. The Group philosophy became the shaping force of Odets’ life as a writer. Clurman became his best friend and most perceptive critic. Odets wrote the first version of Awake and Sing!, then called I Got the Blues, in 1934. -
John Garfield
John Garfield: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Descriptive Summary Creator: Garfield, John, 1913-1952 Title: John Garfield Papers Dates: 1932-2010, undated Extent: 4 document boxes, 2 oversize box (osb), 2 bound volumes (bv) (5.04 linear feet) Abstract: The John Garfield papers, 1932-2010, consist of production photographs and film stills, headshots, photographs, posters, sheet music, clippings, and press releases from his film and stage work; film contracts, articles, magazines, family photos, and correspondence donated by his daughter, Julie Garfield. Call Number: Film Collection No. FI-00074 Language: English Access: Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using archival materials. Special Handling Special Handling Instructions: Most of the binders in this collection Instructions: have been left in an unaltered or minimally processed state to provide the reader with the look and feel of the original. When handling the binders with inserted materials, users are asked to be extremely careful in retaining the original order of the material . Most of the photographs and negatives in the collection have been sleeved, but patrons must use gloves when handling unsleeved photographic materials. Use Policies: Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University of Texas at Austin assume no responsibility. -
Clifford Odets's Dog of Betrayal: Awake and Sing! in Performance Robert Skloot
Spring 1990 179 Clifford Odets's Dog of Betrayal: Awake and Sing! in Performance Robert Skloot From the early agit-prop Waiting For Lefty to the last parable The Flowering Peach, a look at Clifford Odets's work for the stage over two decades reveals one theme whose appearance could be called an obsession. This unifying theme is the key to understanding Odets as a writer and, equally important, is of great use in directing Odets for performance. Examining how it operates so forcefully in his greatest play Awake and Sing! provides guidance for the director who must concretize the stage images which are necessary if Odets's pervasive and propulsive thematic concern is to move and touch modern audiences. I refer to what I call (adapting Mr. Prince's phrase in Rocket to the Moon) "the quiet, biting dog of betrayal." In this essay, I shall explore how betrayal is at work in Awake and Sing!, and how a recent production sought to reflect that theme in performance. "... [T]he life of New York," wrote Robert Warshow in his famous 1946 essay "Clifford Odets: Poet of the Jewish Middle Class," "can be said at this particular stage in the process of acculturation to embody the common experience of American Jews. Clifford Odets is the poet of this life."1 It is Odets's audience (as well as his subject) which is noted in Warshow's title, and its preoccupation with "getting along" within the competition of daily life that became the psychological place from which Odets began his investigations of personal and political relationships. -
PARADISE LOST by Clifford Odets Directed by Louis Contey
PARADISE LOST by Clifford Odets directed by Louis Contey STUDY GUIDE prepared by Maren Robinson, Dramaturg Table of Contents Clifford Odets: Early Influences ...................................................... 3 Clifford Odets and Paradise Lost ..................................................... 4 American Utopianism ...................................................................... 5 The Group Theatre: Utopia and Its Discontents ........................... 6 The Great Depression ...................................................................... 9 The Current Middle-Class Crisis .................................................... 9 1930s Currency ............................................................................... 11 The Playwriting of Clifford Odets ................................................. 11 The Legacy of Clifford Odets ......................................................... 12 Timeline ........................................................................................... 13 Discussion Questions ..................................................................... 17 Projects for Students ...................................................................... 18 Resources ........................................................................................ 19 2 Clifford Odets: Early Influences “Dear American friend. That miserable patch of event, that mélange of nothing, while you were looking ahead for something to happen, that was it! That was life! You lived it!” — Clifford Odets, 1963 Clifford -
Clifford Odets
ANALYSIS Waiting for Lefty (1935) Clifford Odets (1906-1963) “Waiting for Lefty is ingenious and forthright rather than impressive as play writing. The stage is assumed to be the platform at a labor union meeting, and the audience to be the assembled members of the union. A proposed strike of taxi drivers is under discussion, ‘plants’ in the audience arise to interrupt or protest, and flashbacks present scenes from the lives of various persons concerned. Word finally comes that the ‘Lefty’ for whom all are waiting has been killed, and the action ends with the cry of ‘Strike! Strike!’ Characterization is in simple black and white, much of the didacticism is crude as well as blatant; but at least Waiting for Lefty, unlike most plays offered as ‘weapons,’ might actually serve effectively as such. It was perhaps a recognition of this fact that aroused enthusiasm for the new author. Awake and Sing exhibits virtues of quite a different kind. It is said to have been begun before its author’s conversion to Marxism, and to have been hastily provided with the concluding scene in which a ‘revolutionary’ moral is drawn…. After the outbreak of the Second World War, most radicals, including finally even the members of the Communist Party, became convinced that it was advisable to form with ‘capitalism’ a ‘united front’ against the axis powers [after Stalin signed a pact with Hitler in 1939]. One result was an effective dampening of their enthusiasm for revolutionary social criticism, and the ‘revolutionary theatre’ as a recognizable entity rapidly dissolved.” Joseph Wood Krutch Literary History of the United States, 3rd edition (Macmillan 1946-63) 1327-28, 1330 “The talent of Clifford Odets burst dramatically onto the American theatrical scene in the middle of the Depression era. -
A Reflection of the Theatre in the Thirties
THE GROUP THEATRE: A REFLECTION OF THE THEATRE IN THE THIRTIES Abby Ruth Eiferman April 29, 1972 S~ng us a song of social significance Or you can sing until you're blue Let meaning shine in every line Or we wonat love you. 1 This snatch of. lyrics, sung in the International Ladies Garment Workers. Union revue Pins and Needles of 1937 captures an<~ important aspect of the literary spirit of the 1930' s. This decade was marked by a tendency of artists towards political and social commitment, a time when the reconstruction of American .. socie~y,~nq. the menace of Fascism was a cause celebre to which artists 90u1.d rally. American artists had always been interested in chang!!lgsociety, or at least exposing the evils they perceived. "but the 1930' s saw a new kind of commitment and dedication. The economic breakdown caused by the depression had invo~ed a search for social alternatives much more intense than the .complaoency of the prosperou;, 1920' s had witnessed. -, . " ' .. "" ,;; To many writers of the twenties, the sooial enemies were straw ~ '. ; -., men, the Puritans and the Philistines, and not, significantly, the SystemWhieh had nurtured them. To those writers who were - disgusted by the emptiness they perceived in American during- , ' I this decade~ escape lay simply in flight to the bohemianism of Greenwich Village or the cultural richness of Pari~. The only time the twenties had witnessed a consolidation of the artistic-intellectual community was the rally to defend Sacco and Venzettl. But the disparate elements brought together were -2 ... dispersed after the execution of the anarchists, not ,to converge again until the middle of the next decade. -
Toss-Ups for the Spring Intramural, by the Firmatine (Pef and Mjm)
I q~3 Toss-ups for the Spring Intramural, by the Firmatine (pef and mjm) 1) It takes its name from the person of Trinidad who presented the British Museum with specimens of the species. Known in biological circles as the Lebistes reticulatus, it eats mosquito larvae and prevents malaria, and it is also useful in genetic experiments. And it lends its name to a type of submarine. For ten points, name this common home aquarium fish. GUPPY 2) It was established by Pope Sixtus IV in 1478 and it was ended in 1808, with its successor, the Tribunal of the Faith, being abolished in 1834. But other than Cardinals Ximenez, Fang, and Beagles, no one expected it. For ten points and an optional auto da fe, name this tribunal headed at one time by Torquemada. SPANISH INQUISITION 3) A later version of the Lady Godiva story reports that she issued a proc lamation ordering all persons to stay indoors and shutter their windows as she bared all for the common taxpayer. But unfortunately, one person, either a butcher or tailor, peeked, and was blinded for his efforts. A term describing any secret voyeur was born with this incident. For ten points, name it. PEEPING TOM 4) They are made in the only city with an inland Coast Guard station. More than 6 million are made per year, with 60 coming from each prime white ash tree, and they have been made since 1884 at the Hillerich and Bradsby factory. For ten points, name this implement, whose 48-ounce model was used by Babe Ruth. -
May Playwright's Theatre: Clifford Odets: Heir to O'neill
NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015 May Playwright’s Theatre: Clifford Odets: Heir to O’Neill In the years after Eugene O’Neill’s amazing run of success in the 1920’s and early 1930’s, O’Neill all but disappeared from the public eye. Unknown to many, he was building a home in the Danville hills and continuing his writing. At this time, Clifford Odets became the toast of Broadway and the heir apparent to Eugene O’Neill. Writing in the tumultuous years of the Great Depression, Odets’ work was seen as both social activism and entertainment. This May, Playwrights’ Theater will feature staged readings in the Old Barn at the Eugene O’Neill Historic Site of two of Odets’ most important plays Waiting for Lefty on May 3rd Waiting for Lefty by by Clifford Odets, th New Phoenix Theatre Company. and Golden Boy on May 17 According to Vice President of Artistic Programming Eric Fraisher Hayes, “Waiting for Lefty epitomizes Odets’ ability to bring the struggles of the common man to the stage. It is both fierce in its call for social change as well as incredibly theatrical. By contrast, Golden Boy, the most popular and commercially successful of Odets’ works in the 1930’s, is more of a conventional drama involving popular subjects of its time, namely boxers, corrupt managers and gangsters.” This May highlights the broad writing talents of Clifford Odets, the most popular play- wright of the 1930’s. Reservations for both productions are available online at the Foundation website First Two Tao House Fellows Selected for Travis Bogard Artist in Residence Program Playwrights’ Theatre in May …………..……. -
CLIFFORD ODETS and the THEATRE of the '30S Robert Skloot
1 OUR DEBT TO ODETS: CLIFFORD ODETS AND THE THEATRE OF THE ‘30s Robert Skloot University of Wisconsin-Madison The commemorations of the centennial year of Clifford Odets’ birth, of which this paper may be the last example, have seen a number of events that restore, perhaps only temporarily, his name to the list of historically important American playwrights. There can’t be, of course, any guarantee that a playwright’s work will live on after death, and artistic graveyards are full of plays and novels, symphonies and landscapes that once had received both attention and predictions of eternal success. It is the critic’s job to visit and explore these cemeteries (in which, as in all such places, history can be found and interpreted) to see if the digging up of bones might reveal either a premature burial or something asleep and requiring an awakening. In the preface to the publication of his first six plays Odets himself commended his work thus: “My belief...is that the plays will say whatever is to be said; most of them have bones in them and will stand up unsupported.” (Odets, ix) The central question attached to the centennial commemoration is this: what are we to make of Clifford Odets’ plays, that work for which he will be remembered, early in the 21st century? and do they yet contain some things of interest to us seven decades on? It’s probably no surprise that I’ll provide an affirmative answer, and I’ll attempt to assess his work from a perspective I think will be both revealing and useful in advocating for Odets’ rehabilitation beyond the commemorative proceedings of which this talk is one small, belated contribution. -
Group Theatre, Alfred Lunt, and Katharine Cornell Productions
APPENDIX: GROUP THEATRE, ALFRED LUNT, AND KATHARINE CORNELL PRODUCTIONS Group Theatre Productions Season/Play Director Designer Playwright Performances 1931–1932 The House of Connelly Strasberg Green 91 1931– Strasberg Gorelik Siftons 12 Night over Taos Strasberg Anderson 13 1932–1933 Success Story Strasberg Gorelik Lawson 121 Big Night Crawford Gorelik Powell 7 1933–1934 Men in White Strasberg Gorelik Kingsley 351 Gentlewoman Strasberg Gorelik Lawson 12 1934–1935 Gold Eagle Guy Strasberg Oenslager Levy 65 Awake and Sing! Clurman Aronson Odets 184 Waiting for Lefty and Odets/ Odets 144 Till the Day I Die Meisner 1935–1936 Weep for the Virgins Crawford Aronson Child 9 (continued) © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 263 C. Baron, Modern Acting, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-40655-2 264 APPENDIX: GROUP THEATRE, ALFRED LUNT, AND KATHARINE CORNELL ... (continued) Paradise Lost Clurman Aronson Odets 73 Case of Clyde Griffi ths Strasberg Barratt Piscator 19 1936–1937 Johnny Johnson Strasberg Oenslager Green 68 1937–1938 Golden Boy Clurman Gorelik Odets 250 Casey Jones Kazan Gorelik Ardrey 25 1938–1939 Rocket to the Moon Clurman Gorelik Odets 131 The Gentle People Clurman Aronson Shaw 141 1939–1940 My Heart’ s in the Lewis Andrews Saroyan 44 Highland Thunder Rock Kazan Gorelik Ardrey 23 Night Music Clurman Gorlelik Odets 20 1940–1941 Retreat to Pleasure Clurman Oenslager Shaw 23 Productions Featuring Alfred Lunt 1931–1932 Elizabeth the Queen 264 1932–1933 Design for Living 135 1934–1935 Point Valaine 55 1935–1936 The Taming of the Shrew 129 Idiot ’ s Delight 300 1937–1938 Amphitryon 38 153 The Seagull 41 1939–1940 There Shall Be No 115 Night 1940–1941 There Shall Be No Night 66 APPENDIX: GROUP THEATRE, ALFRED LUNT, AND KATHARINE CORNELL .. -
The Playwright: Clifford Odets, Golden Boy of the Theatrical Left
The American Century Theater Audience Guide (Excerpts) The Country Girl The Playwright: Clifford Odets (1906-1963) (Excerpt) By Jack Marshall . Unquestionably, no writer ever approached such prominence having given so little warning based on the beginning of his career. Before 1935, Odets had been a socialist-revolutionary actor of no distinction whose best move was choosing his companions well. He had joined with the politically like-minded Cheryl Crawford, Lee Strasberg, and Harold Clurman in 1931 to split off from the junior acting company of the moderate Theatre Guild, and form the Group Theatre, which was to transform the American stage. Thus Odets became a co-founder of one of the bravest and most significant theater organizations in American theater history. But his contribution to the Group didn’t end there, for he would become literally its clearest voice. He had begun writing plays that would advance the company’s objective of brewing an American brand of the Stanslavski acting principles, applied to ensemble, rather than individual, performing.. 1935, however, changed everything, because everything was changing. The Great Depression was deeper than ever, but structural changes in the American economy and perhaps the world were on the horizon…The theater world in New York functioned like a big filter that captured the most flamboyant, ambitious, brilliant, and leftist American artists, and the New Theater League was born, a cooperative enterprise by many socialist-leaning organizations, including the Group Theatre. The League offered a one-act play competition with revolutionary politics as its theme. Odets locked himself in his room for three days and walked out of it with Waiting for Lefty, a furious and theatrical account of a taxi cab strike.