The Group Theatre was a theater collective, formed in New York in 1931 by Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg. It was intended as a base for the kind of theater they and their colleagues believed in — a forceful, naturalistic and highly disciplined artistry. They were pioneers of what would become an "American acting technique," derived from the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavski, but pushed beyond as well. The company included actors, directors, playwrights and producers. The name "Group" came from the idea of the actors as a pure ensemble; there were to be no "stars." 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an Jewish-American theater director and drama critic, most famous for his work with New York Citys Group Theater. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... January 20, 1978: Greg talks about his craft during a two-week seminar in Germany. ... A portrait of Konstantin Stanislavski by Valentin Serov. ...

The New York-based Group Theatre had no connection with the identically-named London-based Group Theatre founded in 1932. The Group Theatre (London, no connection with the New York company with the same name) was an experimental theatre company founded in 1932 by Rupert Doone and Robert Medley. ...

In the ten years of its existence, the Group Theatre produced works by many important American playwrights, most notably Clifford Odets and Irwin Shaw. Its most successful production was the 1937-38 Broadway hit Golden Boy, starring Luther Adler and Frances Farmer. Irwin Shaw (né Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff, February 27, 1913 - May 16, 1984) was an American Jewish playwright, screen writer and author. ... Broadway theatre[1] is the most prestigious form of professional theatre in the U.S., as well as the most well known to the general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows. ... Golden Boy may refer to: Golden Boy (play), a Clifford Odets play, later made into a Broadway musical Golden Boy (manga), a manga and anime series Golden Boy (Manitoba), a statue on the dome of the Manitoba Legislative Building Golden Boy, an episode of Power Rangers: Dino Thunder Golden Boy...

The Group included Elia Kazan, Stella Adler, Robert Lewis, Frances Farmer, John Garfield (who was billed under the name Jules Garfield), Franchot Tone, Luther Adler, Phoebe Brand, Roman Bohnen, Ruth Nelson, Kermit Bloomgaarden, Will Geer, Howard Da Silva, John Randolph, Joseph Bromberg, Michael Gordon, Paul Green, Clifford Odets, Paul Strand, Morris Carnovsky, Sanford Meisner and Lee J. Cobb, among many others. Elia Kazan, (Greek: Ηλίας Καζάν, IPA: ), (September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was a Greek-American film and theatre director, film and theatrical producer, screenwriter, novelist and founder of the influential Actors Studio in New York in 1947. ... Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress, and for decades was regarded as Americas foremost acting teacher. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Frances Elena Farmer (September 19, 1913 – August 1, 1970) was an American film actress. ... John Garfield John Garfield (born March 4, 1913 in New York City; died May 21, 1952 in New York City) was an American actor. ... Franchot Tone Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor. ... Luther Adler (May 4, 1903 – December 8, 1984) was an American actor best known for his work in theater, but who also worked in film and television. ... Phoebe Brand was a Jewish-American actress, who was blacklisted, along with her husband, Morris Carnovsky in the 1950s. ... Ruth Nelson is the former head women’s volleyball coach at Louisiana State University (1981-1984) and the University of Houston (1974-1980). ... Will Geer (born on March 9, 1902 in Frankfort, Indiana) was an American actor. ... Actor Howard Da Silva in The Lost Weekend Howard Da Silva (born May 4, 1909; died February 16, 1986) was an American actor. ... John Randolph John Randolph (June 1, 1915 - February 24, 2004) was a prolific Tony Award-winning actor. ... Michael Gordon (September 6, 1909 — April 29, 1993) was an American stage actor and stage and film director. ... Paul Green (17 March 1894 - 4 May 1981) American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. ... Clifford Odets photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 - August 18, 1963) was an American socialist playwright, screenwriter, and social protester. ... Wall Street, 1915 Paul Strand (October 16, 1890 – March 31, 1976) was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century. ... Morris Carnovsky (September 5, 1897, St. ... Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905-February 2nd, 1997) was an actor and acting coach well known for the Meisner technique. ... Lee J. Cobb Lee J. Cobb (December 8, 1911 – February 11, 1976) was an American actor. ...

Early productions

The company's first production was Paul Green's "The House of Connelly" on September 23, 1931, at the Martin Beck Theater. It was an immediate critical success and was recognized for the special ensemble performances which the Group would further develop. Playwright Green, however, was not happy with the more hopeful, upbeat ending that the Group had imposed on his brooding work. The Group's production of John Howard Lawson's Success Story, which chronicled the rise of a youthful idealist who sacrifices his principles as he rises to the top of the advertising business, won generally favorable reviews for its script, and enthusiastic praise for Luther Adler's starring performance. Later, during the first full season (1933-34), "Men In White," written by Sidney Kingsley and directed by Lee Strasberg, became the Group's first financial success and also won the Pulitzer Prize. Paul Green (17 March 1894 - 4 May 1981) American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. ... John Howard Lawson (September 25, 1894 - August 11, 1977) was an American writer. ... This article contains a trivia section. ... Sidney Kingsley (1906-1995) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American dramatist. ... January 20, 1978: Greg talks about his craft during a two-week seminar in Germany. ...

The Group took on novelist Dawn Powell's dark comedy Big Night, rehearsed it for close to six months and asked for extensive revisions from the playwright. The result was a critical and box-office disaster that ran a scant nine performances. Harold Clurman, who took over the production late in the rehearsal period, later admitted the Group's role in the fiasco. "The play should have been done in four swift weeks—or not at all. We worried it and harried our actors with it for months." Dawn Powell (November 28, 1896 – November 14, 1965) was an American writer of satirical novels and stories that manage to be barbed and sensitive at the same time. ...

On the night of January 5, 1935, the Group gave a benefit performance of the one-act play, "Waiting For Lefty," by Clifford Odets, at the Civic Repertory Theatre in New York City. The play reflected a kind of street poetry that brought great acclaim to the Group, and to Odets as the new voice of social drama in the thirties. Odets became the playwright most strongly identified with the Group, and its productions of Awake and Sing and Paradise Lost, both directed in 1935 by Harold Clurman, proved to be excellent vehicles for the Group's Stanislavskian aesthetic. Clifford Odets photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 - August 18, 1963) was an American socialist playwright, screenwriter, and social protester. ... Awake and Sing! is a 1935 play by Clifford Odets which was originally produced at the Belasco Theatre. ...

In 1938 and 1939-40, Elia Kazan directed two of Robert Ardrey's plays for the Group Theater, Casey Jones and Thunder Rock (Wesleyan Cinema Archives, The Elia Kazan Collection, Wesleyan University). Robert Ardrey (b. ... Casey Jones is a 1938 play by Robert Ardrey. ... Thunder Rock is a 1939 play by Robert Ardrey. ... Wesleyan University, founded in 1831, is an elite private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. ...

Demise and later influence

Despite its success and sweeping impact on the American theater landscape for many years to come, by 1940, impending war, the lure of fame and fortune in Hollywood, the lack of institutional funding and the friction of interpersonal relationships within the Group eventually led to its demise. In the spring of 1941, Elia Kazan and Bobby Lewis accompanied Harold Clurman as he turned the key on the Group offices for the last time.

After the war, in 1947, Robert Lewis, Elia Kazan and Cheryl Crawford founded the Actors Studio, where the techniques inspired by Stanslavski and developed in the Group Theatre were refined. Under the leadership of Lee Strasberg, who later joined the Actors Studio and became its director in 1951, what is now referred to as The Method emerged as a lasting force in modern drama. 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... The Actors Studio is a theatrical school and workshop located in the Old Labor Stage on 44th Street in New York City. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In the 1950s, many of the former members were called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Those who appeared as "friendly" witnesses, such as Elia Kazan, Clifford Odets, and Lee J. Cobb, avoided the fate of their colleagues who refused to name Communist Party members and, as a result, were blacklisted. HUAC hearings House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC or HCUA) (1938–1975) was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. ... A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, or mobility. ...

The Group Theatre is described in Robert Lewis' book Slings And Arrows, Theater in my Life, Harold Clurman's book, The Fervent Years, as well as Wendy Smith's authoritative history, Real Life Drama. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an Jewish-American theater director and drama critic, most famous for his work with New York Citys Group Theater. ...

References