The Transcendent Years: The Story of a Theater - Circle Rep - Softcover

Mason, Marshall W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1632920530 ISBN 13: 9781632920539

Publisher: Goodreads Press, 2018

Synopsis

For the first time since Harold Clurman’s classic The Fervent Years, a great theater comes to life along with the tumultuous age that engendered it. Founding Artistic Director Marshall W. Mason (winner of the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement) dramatically reveals the inside story of the creation of Circle Repertory Company, arguably the most important American theater since The Group of the 1930s. The Transcendent Years takes a theater lover backstage to witness the discovery of some of the foremost actors of our time (William Hurt, Kathy Bates, Christopher Reeve, Jeff Daniels, Judd Hirsch, Swoosie Kurtz, Nancy Snyder, Jonathan Hogan, Trish Hawkins and Tanya Berezin were members of the Company). The story shares the process of how Circle Rep playwrights Lanford Wilson, Sam Shepard, Marsha Norman, David Mamet, Jules Feiffer, Paula Vogel, Craig Lucas, William Mastrosimone, Larry Kramer and William M. Hoffman wrote plays for the actors to perform. Meticulously documented, The Transcendent Years puts the birth of Circle Rep into the context of the world-shaking changes of the 1960s, the evolutionary era that became the foundation of the 21st century and that provided an impetus for creating timeless art.

About this title

About the Author

Marshall W. Mason is the Founding Artistic Director of New York’s Circle Repertory Company, which The New York Times designated “the chief provider of new American plays.” His artistic partnership with Pulitzer Prize-winner Lanford Wilson spanned over forty years and is the longest collaboration between a playwright and director in the history of the American Theater. He directed twelve plays on Broadway (including Gemini, Burn This, The Seagull and Redwood Curtain) that earned him five Tony nominations for Best Director (Knock Knock, Talley’s Folly, Fifth of July, Angels Fall and As Is). Off-Broadway, he was honored with five Obie Awards for Distinguished Direction (The HOT L BALTIMORE,Battle of Angels, The Mound Builders, Knock Knock and Serenading Louie), plus a sixth Obie for Sustained Achievement. Memorable productions include The Sea Horse, Talley & Son, The Destiny of Me and Sunshine. He has directed at major regional theaters throughout the United States, as well as productions in London and Tokyo. He is the author of Creating Life on Stage: A Director’s Approach to Working with Actors (Heinemann Press). He was the Chief Drama Critic for Phoenix’s New Times, for which he received an Arizona Press Club Award. He is Professor Emeritus of Arizona State University and is past president of the Stage Directors and Choreographers. He is the recipient of the Theater World Award, the Margo Jones Award, the Erwin Piscator Award and a Special Millennium George Abbott Award as one of “the most influential and innovative directors of the 20th century.” In 2015 he was elected to the Theater Hall of Fame and in 2016 he received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater.

About this edition

• Publisher: Goodreads Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1632920530
• ISBN 13: 9781632920539
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 722