JoAnne Akalaitis(born June 29, 1937, inCicero, Illinois)[1][2]is anavant-gardeAmerican theatre director and writer. She has won fiveObie Awardsfor direction (and sustained achievement) and was a co-founder of the New York theater companyMabou Mines.[3]
Life and career
editAkalaitis, of Lithuanian descent, was apre-medstudent at theUniversity of Chicago,and transferred toStanford Universityto study philosophy, before leaving for San Francisco at age 22 without a degree.
After choosing acting as a career, she studied with theActor's Workshopin San Francisco, theSan Francisco Mime Troupe,The Open TheaterWorkshop in New York, and acting theoristJerzy Grotowskiin France. Additionally, as aMabou Minesfounder, she conducted workshops in Mabou's acting technique.[4]
In addition to theAmerican Repertory Theater– where she has directedEndgame,The Balcony(byJean Genet) andThe Birthday Party(byHarold Pinter) – she has staged works byEuripides,Shakespeare,Strindberg,Schiller,Tennessee Williams,Philip Glass,Janáček,and her own work at theLincoln Center for the Performing Arts,New York City Opera,Goodman Theatre,Hartford Stage,Mark Taper Forum,Court Theatre,Opera Theatre of Saint Louis,and theGuthrie Theater.She is the former artistic director of theNew York Shakespeare Festivaland of thePublic Theater(1991–1993),[1]and was artist-in-residence at theCourt Theatrein Chicago.
Ms. Akalaitis was theAndrew Mellonco-chair of the Directing Program atJuilliard School,and was the Wallace Benjamin Flint and L. May Hawver Flint Professor of Theater atBard Collegeuntil 2012. She is the recipient of aGuggenheim Fellowship,National Endowment for the Artsgrants, Edwin Booth Award, Rosamund Gilder Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre, and Pew Charitable Trusts National Theatre Artist Residency Program grant.
In the early 1980s, Samuel Beckett attempted to shut down apostmodernproduction of his play,Endgame,which she was directing.[5]
Akalaitis is a Fellow of theNew York Institute for the Humanitiesand lives in Manhattan, New York.
Family
editShe has two children with her ex-husband, composerPhilip Glass:Juliet (b. 1968) and Zachary (b. 1971).[3]
Notes
edit- ^abJudith Graham, ed. (1993).Current Biography Yearbook, 1993.New York: H. W. Wilson. p. 8.
- ^Ian Herbert, ed. (1981). "AKALAITIS, JoAnne".Who's Who in the Theatre.Vol. 1. Gale Research Company. pp.5–6.ISSN0083-9833.
- ^abDon Shewey,"Rocking the House That Papp Built",The Village VoiceSeptember 25, 1990, accessed August 21, 2007.
- ^Gholson, Craig."JoAnne Akalaitis"ArchivedNovember 1, 2011, at theWayback Machine,BOMB Magazine,Spring 1983, accessed July 20, 2011.
- ^Mel Gussow,"Stage: Disputed 'Endgame' in Debut",The New York Times,December 20, 1984.
References
edit- "AKALAITIS, Joanne"inWorld Who's Who(Routledge – Taylor and Francis Group). Accessed September 1, 2006. (Subscription required.)
External links
edit- Bioat American Repertory Theater
- BioArchivedJanuary 7, 2006, at theWayback Machineat Bard College