Daniel Fish is an American theater director based in New York City.
Daniel Fish is an American theater director based in New York City.
Daniel Fish graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in performance studies. [1] From 1989 to 1993 he worked as the assistant director to Michael Kahn at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Following this, he freelanced, directing conceptually experimental productions of Molière and Shakespeare, including iconoclastic productions of Twelfth Night at The Shakespeare Theatre, Romeo and Juliet at Great Lakes Theater Festival, [2] and Tartuffe for the Court Theatre. [3]
In 2002, Fish's production of Charles Mee's True Love opened in New York City at a former zipper factory. [4] The New York Times hailed Fish's work as "the most inventive directorial effort of the year." [5] He continued to direct Shakespeare and Molière including controversial productions of Tartuffe and Hamlet for the McCarter Theatre and Merchant of Venice for California Shakespeare Theatre. During this time, he began branching out into new work, directing productions of David Rabe's The Black Monk for Yale Repertory Theatre, Poor Beck for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Charles Mee's Paradise Park for Signature Theatre Company.
In Germany, he has directed Sheila Callaghan's We Are Not These Hands for the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhouse and a production of Der Menschenfiend for Staatstheater Braunschweig.
In 2006, Fish directed an acclaimed production of Clifford Odets' Rocket to the Moon, which premiered at Bard SummerScape and went on to Long Wharf Theatre. The New York Times called the production, "heartfelt, freshly conceived and rich in moments that illuminate the tenderness of Odets's vision..." [6]
He directed another Odets play, Paradise Lost, for the American Repertory Theater in 2010. His direction divided critics and audiences alike.
Fish has enjoyed regular collaborations with Bard Summerscape, directing a number of original projects, including The Elliott Smith Project (based on the work of indie rocker Elliott Smith) and Kock Fight Club (an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream ).
In 2010, Daniel Fish began a theatrical investigation into the work of David Foster Wallace at the University of Rochester. [7] The piece was workshopped at the Baryshnikov Art Center in late 2011 and made its New York City premiere in March 2012 at The Chocolate Factory.
In January 2011, Fish directed an adaptation of Nicholas Ray's film Bigger Than Life , entitled Tom Ryan Thinks He's James Mason Starring in a Movie By Nicholas Ray in which a Man's Illness Provides an Escape from the Pain, Pressure and Loneliness of Trying to be the Ultimate American Father, Only to Drive Him Further Into the More Thrilling Though Possibly Lonelier Roles of Addict and Misunderstood Visionary. The work opened at Incubator Arts Project; Time Out New York gave it 5 stars, saying, "The sexiest thing…is Fish's approach, which both loves and ironizes its source, both chills and reheats old material. I left thinking of all the many pieces I want Fish to do in this noir literalist style—and wondering impatiently how quickly he can start." [8]
Regular collaborators include Kaye Voyce, Joshua Thorson, Scott Zielinski, Thomas Jay Ryan, Andrew Lieberman, and Peter Pucci.
Fish's production of Oklahoma! , previously produced at Bard Summerscape and St. Ann's Warehouse, premiered on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre in 2019, garnering him a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical nomination. This production transferred to the Young Vic in April 2022 and to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre in February 2023. [9]
Daniel Fish has taught at the Yale School of Drama, Princeton University, UCSD La Jolla, The New School, and Bard College. [10] [ citation needed ]
He has been a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome on two occasions.[ citation needed ]
As of 2011, Mr. Fish was in post-production for a film, The Dollar General, which he wrote, directed, and produced.
The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to neglected works of the past; and to established classical texts reinterpreted in refreshing new ways. Over the past forty years it has garnered many of the nation's most distinguished awards, including a Pulitzer Prize (1982), a Tony Award (1986), and a Jujamcyn Award (1985). In 2002, the A.R.T. was the recipient of the National Theatre Conference's Outstanding Achievement Award, and it was named one of the top three theaters in the country by Time magazine in 2003. The A.R.T. is housed in the Loeb Drama Center at Harvard University, a building it shares with the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club. The A.R.T. operates the Institute for Advanced Theater Training.
Clifford Odets was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdraw from Broadway's commercial pressures and increasing critical backlash. From January 1935, Odets's socially relevant dramas were extremely influential, particularly for the remainder of the Great Depression. His works inspired the next several generations of playwrights, including Arthur Miller, Paddy Chayefsky, Neil Simon, and David Mamet. After the production of his play Clash by Night in the 1941–42 season, Odets focused his energies primarily on film projects, remaining in Hollywood for the next seven years. He returned to New York in 1948 for five and a half years, during which time he produced three more Broadway plays, only one of which was a success. His prominence was eventually eclipsed by Miller, Tennessee Williams, and in the early- to mid-1950s, William Inge.
Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite, first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical theatre roles.
Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley.
Bard on the Beach is Western Canada's largest professional Shakespeare festival. The theatre festival runs annually from early June through September in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The festival is produced by Bard on the Beach Theatre Society whose mandate is to provide Vancouver residents and tourists with affordable, accessible Shakespearean productions of the finest quality. In addition to the annual summer festival, the Society runs a number of year-round theatre education and training initiatives for both the artistic community and the general community at large. Bard on the Beach celebrated its 30th anniversary season in 2019.
John Strasberg is the son of Lee and Paula Strasberg of the Actors Studio, and brother of actress Susan Strasberg.
JoAnne Akalaitis is an avant-garde Lithuanian-American theatre director and writer. She won five Obie Awards for direction and was founder in 1970 of the critically acclaimed Mabou Mines in New York City.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company located in Washington, D.C. The theatre company focuses primarily on plays from the Shakespeare canon, but its seasons include works by other classic playwrights such as Euripides, Ibsen, Wilde, Shaw, Schiller, Coward and Tennessee Williams. The company manages and performs in two spaces: The Michael R. Klein Theatre and Sidney Harman Hall. In cooperation with George Washington University, they run the STC Academy.
Libby Appel served as the fourth artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) from 1995 to June 2007. Appel directed more than 25 productions at OSF, and her artistic vision influenced the 11 plays presented each year during her tenure. Despite the festival's name, she placed increased emphasis on new works. “We have made major connections with world playwrights, artists whose voices we’re particularly interested in.” Appel said. “We commission playwrights, we develop plays here; we have playwrights in residence. We’re a world force now, and I’m really proud of that.”
The Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company in Washington, D.C., United States. The theatre company focuses primarily on plays from the Shakespeare canon, but its seasons include works by other classic playwrights such as Euripides, Henrik Ibsen and Oscar Wilde.
The Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training or FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training is a three-year graduate program culminating in a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting. The program is operated by Florida State University in conjunction with the Asolo Repertory Theatre.
Louis Lacy Clinton Kimbrough was an actor from the United States.
Ako, or Ako Dachs, is a Japanese actress and founding Artistic Director of Amaterasu Za theatre company.
Ivo van Hove is a Belgian theatre director known as the artistic director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam in the Netherlands and for his Off-Broadway avant-garde experimental theatre productions. On Broadway, he has directed revival productions of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge, and The Crucible, Lee Hall's Network in 2018, and Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's West Side Story in 2020. Among his numerous awards he has received a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award for A View from the Bridge. He was made a Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France in 2004, and a Commander in the Order of the Crown in 2016.
Michael O'Sullivan was an American actor, "larger than life," who appeared on Broadway, at Lincoln Center, on the London stage, at San Francisco's Actor's Workshop and in many regional theaters and festivals of America throughout his brief career in the late 1950s and '60s.
Michelle Beck is an American actress based in New York City known for her performances in Shakespeare plays and other stage works. She has also appeared in film and television.
Charlotte Shakespeare was a professional, non-profit theatre company in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company specialized in intimate and accessible performances of traditional and modern classics, with an emphasis on the plays of William Shakespeare and with a mission of presenting plays "that reflect timeless truths about the human condition and honor Shakespeare’s genius for storytelling and language".
The Mirror Theater was founded by Sabra Jones in 1983, who was also the Founding Artistic Director. The first program of the theater was the Mirror Repertory Company (MRC). Founding members of the company included Eva Le Gallienne, John Strasberg, and Geraldine Page. Sabra Jones reached out to Ellis Rabb, artistic director of the APA Phoenix Repertory Company, John Houseman of the Mercury Theater, and Eva Le Gallienne of the Civic Repertory Theatre Company. The company was intended to be "an alternating repertory company in the classic sense" of actor-manager leadership, which Rabb, Houseman, and La Gallienne pioneered. Alternating repertory refers to when one company performs a variety of plays in the same season with the same actors, which was formerly a mainstay of theater tradition. This system has been attributed with helping actors grow in their craft through a wide variety of roles. MRC was funded in its inception primarily by philanthropist Laurance S. Rockefeller, with additional donations from philanthropists and actors such as Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, and others.
Saheem Ali is a Kenyan theatre director. He is Associate Artistic Director at The Public Theater in New York City.