The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W. Mason, playwright Lanford Wilson, director Rob Thirkield, and actress Tanya Berezin, all of whom were veterans of the Caffe Cino. The plan was to establish a pool of artists — actors, directors, playwrights and designers — who would work together in the creation of plays.[1] In 1974, The New York Times critic Mel Gussow acclaimed Circle Rep as the "chief provider of new American plays."[2]
Marshall W. Mason was succeeded as Artistic Director (1969–1987) by co-founder Tanya Berezin (1987–1995). In 1995, Austin Pendleton succeeded her, with actress Lynn Thigpen as associate artistic director and Milan Stitt as executive director and Edward M. Hausle as artistic director of the Circle Rep Lab.
Originating in the 1960s, a time when many experimental theaters arose, this company outlasted many others.[3] The Company moved their home to the Sheridan Square Playhouse at 99 Seventh Avenue South[4] in the early 1970s and performed there through 1994.[5] (In the early 1980s the name Sheridan Square Playhouse was dropped in favor of Circle Repertory Theatre.) The company closed its doors in 1996 after 27 years.[6]
Writers
Circle Repertory Company, also called Circle Rep, became home to some of the most prolific talent in the American theater. Co-founder and resident playwright, Lanford Wilson, wrote The Hot L Baltimore (1972-1973 season), The Mound Builders (1974-1975 season), Serenading Louie (1975–76 season), Fifth of July (1977-1978 season), Talley's Folly (1979-1980 season), A Tale Told (1980-1981 season, later revised as Talley & Son), Angels Fall (1982–83 season), Burn This (1986–87 season), and Redwood Curtain (1992–93 season) for the company.
Other company and Circle LAB actors included David Arrow, Michael Ayr, Steve Bassett, Tanya Berezin, Craig Bockhorn, Maggie Burke, Marylouise Burke, Paul Butler, Lynn Cohen, Katherine Cortez, Cyndi Coyne, Cathryn Damon, Jack Davidson, Danielle Delgado, Jake Dengel, Anthony DiMaria, Pamela Dunlap, Claris Erickson, Neil Flanagan, Mary Lea Floden, Lindsey Ginter, Stephanie Gordon, Steve Gregan, Charles T. Harper, Michael Higgins, Ruby Holbrook, Jonathan Hogan, Laura Hughes, Ken Kliban, Zane Lasky, Bobo Lewis, Lou Liberatore, Robert LuPone, Sharon Madden, Jeff McCracken, Edward J. Moore, Jordan Mott, Bruce McCarty, Randy Noojin, Monica Parks, Burke Pearson, Michael Warren Powell, Scott Rymer, Sharon Schlarth, Richard Seff, Timothy Shelton, Ben Siegler, Nancy Snyder, June Stein, Ife Oshun, Brian Tarantina, Rob Thirkield, and Jimmie Ray Weeks, among others.
Company members
Company designers were John Lee Beatty and David Potts for sets, Dennis Parichy and Malcolm Sturchio for lights, Jennifer von Mayrhauser and Laura Crow for costumes, Chuck London and Stuart Warner for sound. Company composers have been Norman L. Berman, Jonathan Brielle, and Peter Kater. Company stage managers were Fred Reinglas, MA Howard and Denise Yaney. Production Managers included Earl Hughes, Jody Boese, Kate Stewart and Karen Potosnak.
Program
In 1979 Circle Rep returned to their original concept of rotating rep, producing two plays in repertory; Hamlet, and Schiller's Mary Stuart. By 1982 Circle Rep had outgrown its theater and began to present some works on other stages. Running parallel to the classics, Circle Rep became celebrated for its productions of new plays, particularly those in the style that has been labeled "lyric realism," with Lanford Wilson being the leading voice of the genre. Marshall W. Mason directed dozens of Wilson's plays starting with Balm in Gilead in 1965, Home Free! and The Madness of Lady Bright in London (1968) and continuing at Circle Rep with Sextet (Yes) in 1971.
Projects
In addition to major productions Circle Rep ran a Projects-in-Progress series called Circle Rep Lab. The Lab's Artistic Director was first Daniel Irvine, then Michael Warren Powell. Powell left due to artistic differences and was replaced by Edward M. Hausle, a young actor and playwright for the Lab since 1993. This choice caused some controversy amongst some of the long-standing members due to his age (Hausle was only 19 at the time.) At its height the Lab had over 300 active members. (actors, writers directors and designers) Plays selected for this series received a week of rehearsal and a four-performance run. Several of these plays went on to become major productions the following season or at other theaters, and include such original stagings as Marsha Norman's 'Night, Mother, Bill C. Davis' Mass Appeal, and William M. Hoffman's As Is.
The literary office, headed by B. Rodney Marriott and followed by Milan Stitt, was one of the few that read unsolicited scripts and plays and responded with detailed criticism. To the end of developing scripts and plays, the company ran two reading series, Friday Readings and Extended Readings.
The company collaborated with the Dramatists Guild on a series called Young Playwrights Festival, founded by Stephen Sondheim and Gerald Chapman in 1981. For the festival, ten plays with writers ranging from 8 to 18 were chosen for full production or staged readings. Plays were produced at Circle Rep with professional actors. Among the playwrights were Kenneth Lonergan and Jonathan Marc Sherman.
Michael Warren Powell became the artistic director of a successor company, Circle East, which continued the work of the LAB until Powell's death in 2016.
Related Research Articles
Lanford Wilson was an American playwright. His work, as described by The New York Times, was "earthy, realist, greatly admired [and] widely performed." Wilson helped to advance the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement with his earliest plays, which were first produced at the Caffe Cino beginning in 1964. He was one of the first playwrights to move from Off-Off-Broadway to Off-Broadway, then Broadway and beyond.
The Hot L Baltimore is a 1973 American play by Lanford Wilson set in the lobby of the Hotel Baltimore. The plot focuses on the residents of the decaying property, who are faced with eviction when the structure is condemned. The play draws its title from the hotel's neon marquee with a burned-out "e" that was never replaced.
The San Jose Repertory Theatre was the first resident professional theatre company in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1980 by James P. Reber. In 2008, after the demise of the American Musical Theatre of San Jose, the San Jose Rep became the largest non-profit, professional theatre company in the South Bay with an annual operating budget of $5 million. In 2006, it was saved from impending insolvency by a $2 million bailout loan from the city of San Jose; this was later restructured into a long-term loan similar to a mortgage.
Balm in Gilead is a 1965 American play written by American playwright Lanford Wilson.
Austin Campbell Pendleton is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor.
Milan Stitt was an American playwright and educator.
Marshall W. Mason is an American theater director, educator, and writer. Mason founded the Circle Repertory Company in New York City and was artistic director of the company for 18 years (1969–1987). He received an Obie Award for Sustained Achievement in 1983. In 2016, he received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater.
Seattle Rep is a major regional theater located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Center. It is a member of Theatre Puget Sound and Theatre Communications Group. Founded in 1963, it is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann. It received the 1990 Regional Theatre Tony Award.
Albert Francis Innaurato Jr. was an American playwright, theatre director, and writer.
Jonathan Hadary is an American actor.
Angels Fall is a play by Lanford Wilson. It premiered off-Broadway at the Circle Repertory Company in 1982. The play ran on Broadway in 1983 and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.
Detroit Repertory Theatre is a regional theatre located at 13103 Woodrow Wilson in Detroit, Michigan with a seating capacity of 194. It is Michigan's longest running, non-profit, professional (union) Theatre. The theatre began as a children's musical touring company in 1957 and performed throughout Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, before it established itself on Woodrow Wilson Avenue in Detroit in 1963. It survived the race riots of 1967 and has been over the nearly 60 years of its existence often the only fully professional non-profit theatre in Detroit. The theatre averages about 60,000 admissions each year.
Dennis Parichy is an American lighting designer. He won the 1980 Drama Desk Award for Talley's Folly and the Obie Award in 1981.
Sharon Langston Ott is a director, producer and educator who worked in regional theaters and opera throughout the United States. Two plays she directed, A Fierce Longing and Amlin Gray's How I Got That Story, each won an Obie award after their New York runs.
Artists Repertory Theatre is a professional non-profit theatre located in Portland, Oregon, United States. The longest-running professional theatre company in Portland, since 1982 the company has focused on presenting the works of contemporary playwrights, including world premieres.
Norman L. Berman is an American theater composer and playwright.
Tanya Berezin was an American actress, co-founder and an artistic director of Circle Repertory Company in New York City, and educator. She performed on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and also appeared in a number of films and television series.
Timothy Peter Mason was an American playwright. He wrote a number of plays, including Levitation, Only You, Babylon Gardens, The Fiery Furnace and Bearclaw. He also wrote the novels The Last Synapsid,The Darwin Affair,The Nightingale Affair, and the book and lyrics for the Broadway musical, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Timothy Bond is the Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as of September 1, 2023. His previous role was as the Head of the Professional Actor Training Program and professor at the University of Washington School of Drama.
Michael Warren Powell was an American artistic director, director, actor and designer involved in the Off-Off-Broadway movement, Off-Broadway and in the development of new American plays.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
