Dramatic Workshop
Dramatic Workshop (English for " Dramatic Workshop " ) was the name of a company founded by Erwin Piscator at the New York's New School and performed drama school. The workshop, whose most famous graduates Tennessee Williams, Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis and Harry Belafonte were, existed from 1940 until 1951.
History
Beginning in January 1939 traveled Erwin Piscator, the most famous representative of German political theater, which already had several stations exile behind him, together with his wife Maria in the USA, New York City, a. In May 1939 he took there in touch with Alvin Johnson, president of the New School for Social Research, which is a melting pot for emigrated German in the time of National Socialism - was formed intellectuals - a v. Jewish. Beginning of 1940 he founded the New School then a Dramatic Workshop, who received his teaching on January 15, 1940, first 20 students.
In September 1940, was formed within the workshops, the Studio Theatre, the venue was the auditorium at the New School. The Studio Theatre has been provisionally and on 31 May 1943 - finally closed in 1944 - under pressure from a group of students. Since July 1944, the workshop hosted annual summer courses, which took place first in Sayville, Long Iceland. In December of the same year a Junior Dramatic Workshop was founded.
In January 1945, the workshop had 40-60 full-time and about 250 part-time students. In October of the same year moved the entire device into the President Theatre, which had the address of West 48th Street. After the end of World War II, the GI Bill of Rights adopted in 1944 led to a massive increase in students; The workshop was temporarily at this time to a largest theater schools in the country. 1947 took over the establishment of the Rooftop Theatre, which had been used sporadically since February 1946.
In June 1949 Piscator was divided from the Dramatic Workshop of the New School. Under the name of Dramatic Workshop and Technical Institute, he was then further on their own. In March 1950, the Rooftop Theatre was abandoned as a venue, in the late summer of 1951 the President Theatre; as a replacement premises were rented at the Capitol Theatre.
1951, during the McCarthy era, Piscator was invited to a hearing before the Committee on Un-American Activities. To escape this interrogation, he left the U.S., and landed on 7 October 1951 in Hamburg. He never returned to the United States. The management of the Dramatic Workshop took Piscator's wife Maria.
Teachers and students
Among the employees of the workshop included, in addition Piscator, among others Zuckmayer, Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg, Hans José Rehfisch, Pinthus, Hanns Eisler, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell Jascha Horenstein and. Famous students of the institution were Judith Malina, Gene Saks, Tennessee Williams, Marlon Brando, Elaine Stritch, Harry Guardino, Tony Curtis, Harry Belafonte, Bea Arthur, Michael V. Gazzo, Walter Matthau, Ben Gazzara, Shelley Winters and Rod Steiger.
Although Piscator, who had his spiritual home in the political agitation theater, the trend-setting personality was the establishment, in this case also found other theatrical concepts such as method acting an important niche.