Harold Clurman

Clurman Comments

"the most influential figure in the history of the American theatre"

Harold Clurman was a co-founder of The Group Theatre (along with Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg), has been called the most influential figure in the history of the American theatre. Though a co-founder, he proved himself to be the leader and passionate coordinator of The Group Theatre. Only Clurman, with his political and artistic idealism, could have made The Group Theatre reach its full potential and still (even after his death) bring excitement and ingenuity to American theatre today.

Formative Experiences

Harold Clurman was born in New York City on September 18, 1901. He saw his first play at the age of six, when he went to go see the famous Jewish actor, Jacob Adler as "Faustus." He did not understand any Yiddish at the time, though he recalled it as a "transforming experience." At that moment he began his "passionate inclination toward the theatre." He was very impressed by the community of the Yiddish theatre he saw.

Before he came into his own as a director and a performer, he was a college student--attending Columbia and later the Sorbonne in Paris. He wrote his thesis on the history of French drama from 1890 to 1914; it was after his long stay in France—where he saw the arts—that he began to formulate his vision of a new American theatre.

The Group Theatre: Context and Formation

After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the dramatic community found itself in complete desperation because, along with the economy hitting an all time low, new productions declined every hour of everyday and theaters closed by the dozens. Clurman suggested a theater with a permanent acting company, which very closely resembled the Yiddish theatre’s community he was so impressed by as a youth.

After seeing the Moscow Arts Theater, Clurman knew that if theater was going to succeed it must make radical changes in the acting process. Clurman utilized Constantin Stanislavsky's ensemble approach; the productions he saw in Moscow where this was practiced were more emotional and realistic than anything that he’d seen on Broadway.

Beginning in 1930, Clurman began to use seminars as a way to further his ideal approach to theatre—using a permanent acting ensemble. Through these real connections, actors were more likely to form a pure bond to be presented and experienced on stage. This prevented the “star and stock” syndrome so many theatres had fallen prey to in the past.

The Group Theatre

The Group Theatre defied all convention; only “light” plays were being produced at the time and the actors and directors at The Group Theatre fought for the right to produce pieces of real worth—pieces that could show America itself and its state of affairs—for as long as they could. It is with this vision, they changed the course of their next ten years together, as well as the concept of what theatre should be today; Clurman would use Stanislavki’s “method acting” approach to fully recognize the actors’ potential in the portrayal of their characters within the piece.

Politics of the Group

*Members (as a whole) held left-wing views

*The Group dealt with important social issues.

*Artists expressed their political and spiritual visions.

Key Productions at Group Theatre

*The House of Connelly (1931 by Paul Green)

*Condemned (1932 by Marc Blizstein)

*Men in White (1933 by Sidney Kingsley)

*Gentle Woman, (1933 by John Howard Lawson)

*Waiting for Lefty (1935 by Clifford Odets)

*The Cradle Will Rock (1937 by Marc Blizstein)

Clurman at Work (in the words of Elia Kazan in A Life)

"I learned from Harold that a director's first task is to make his actors eager to play their parts. He had a unique way of talking to actors - I didn't have it and I never heard of another director who did; he turned them on with his intellect, his analyses and his insights. But also by his high spirits."

Elia continued…

"Harold's work was joyous. He didn't hector his actors from an authoritarian position; he was a partner, not an overlord, in the struggle of production. He'd reveal to each actor at the onset a concept of his or her performance, one the actor could not have anticipated and could not have found on his own. Harold's visions were brilliant; actors were eager to realize them. They were also full of compassion for the characters' dilemmas, their failings and their aspirations."

Clurman Quotes

The following quotes best reflect Clurman's philosophy for American theatre.

"All around me the painters and composers groped for ways to express contemporary society in their work. Where, I wondered, was this parallel activity in theater?"

"I was interested in what the theater was going to say...The theater must say something. It must relate to society. It must relate to the world we live in."

"The stage is life, music, beautiful girls, legs, breasts, not talk or intellectualism or dried-up academics."

Body of Work

*Night Music; Produced by The Group Theatre (Staged by H.C.)

Feb 22, 1940 - Mar 9, 1940

*Awake and Sing!; Produced by The Group Theatre (Staged by H.C.)

Mar 7, 1939 - Apr 1939

*The Gentle People; Produced by The Group Theatre (Directed by H.C.)

Jan 5, 1939 - May 1939

*Rocket to the Moon; Produced by The Group Theatre (Directed by H.C.)

Nov 24, 1938 - Mar 1939

*Casey Jones; Produced by The Group Theatre (Directed by H.C.)

Feb 19, 1938 - Mar 1938

*Golden Boy; Produced by The Group Theatre (Directed by H.C.)

Nov 4, 1937 - Jun 1938

*Johnny Johnson; Produced by The Group Theatre (Directed by H.C.)

Nov 19, 1936 - Jan 16, 1937

*Case of Clyde Griffiths; Produced by The Group Theatre (Directed by H.C.)

Mar 13, 1936 - Mar 1936

*Paradise Lost; Produced by The Group Theatre (Staged by H.C.)

Dec 9, 1935 - Feb 1936

*Awake and Sing!; Produced by The Group Theatre (Directed by H.C.)

Sep 9, 1935 - Sep 1935

*Awake and Sing!; Produced by The Group Theatre (Staged by H.C.)

Feb 19, 1935 - Jul 1935

*Men in White; Produced by The Group Theatre (Staged by H.C.)

Sep 26, 1933 - Jul 1934

he also acted in...

*Juarez and Maximilian (1926)

*The Chief Thing (1926)

*The Goat Song (1926)

*Caesar and Cleopatra (1925)

Sources

*Clurman, Harold; The Fervent Years

*Kazan, Elia; A Life

*Smith, Wendy; Real Life: The Group Theatre and America, 1931 – 1940

*http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAclurman.htm

*http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/clurman_h.html

*http://www.stellaadler.com/harold_clurman.html

*www.ibdb.com

*http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/group_theatre.html

*http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE4DF1030F935A15755C0A96F948260