George Bartenieff: Difference between revisions
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In 1970, feeling that the Judson Poets Theatre has past its peak, four artists involved in it – Bartenieff, his wife at the time, [[Crystal Field]], director Larry Kornfield and Theo Barnes – wanted to start their own "cross-disciplanry theater which emphasized poetic language", according to Bartenieff. The [[Westbeth Artists Community]] had just started at the time, and a large space appropriate for performance became available. This was the beginning of [[Theatre for the New City]], which still exists, albeit in other quarters.<ref name=business /> TNC not only did their own work, they invited other companies, such as [[Mabou Mines]], the Talking Band, and [[Richard Foreman]]'s company, to perform there. They also mounted street theatre productions, with the purpose of making "the theater part of the community, and the community part of the theater."<ref name=business /> |
In 1970, feeling that the Judson Poets Theatre has past its peak, four artists involved in it – Bartenieff, his wife at the time, [[Crystal Field]], director Larry Kornfield and Theo Barnes – wanted to start their own "cross-disciplanry theater which emphasized poetic language", according to Bartenieff. The [[Westbeth Artists Community]] had just started at the time, and a large space appropriate for performance became available. This was the beginning of [[Theatre for the New City]], which still exists, albeit in other quarters.<ref name=business /> TNC not only did their own work, they invited other companies, such as [[Mabou Mines]], the Talking Band, and [[Richard Foreman]]'s company, to perform there. They also mounted street theatre productions, with the purpose of making "the theater part of the community, and the community part of the theater."<ref name=business /> |
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Bartenieff stayed with Theatre for the New City for 24 years, but left when he began to feel he was spending more time on the financial problems of the company then he was on his craft. "I had to return." said Bartenieff, "to my own work, from being the [[Cecil B. DeMille]] of off-off-Broadway to the idea that small is more." To this end, he collaborated with his wife, playwright and director Karen Malpede, to create a one-man show, ''I Will Bear Witness'', an adaptation of the memoirs of [[Victor Klemperer]], which documented daily life as a Jewish professor in [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name=business /> |
Bartenieff stayed with Theatre for the New City for 24 years – performing, directing or producing more than 900 new American plays<ref name=questions>Fitch, Clyde. [http://www.clydefitchreport.com/2012/10/5-questions-ive-never-been-asked-george-bartenieff/ "5 Questions I’ve Never Been Asked: George Bartenieff"] ''The Clyde Fitch Report'' {October 7, 2012)</ref> – but left when he began to feel he was spending more time on the financial problems of the company then he was on his craft. "I had to return." said Bartenieff, "to my own work, from being the [[Cecil B. DeMille]] of off-off-Broadway to the idea that small is more." To this end, he collaborated with his wife, playwright and director Karen Malpede, to create a one-man show, ''I Will Bear Witness'', an adaptation of the memoirs of [[Victor Klemperer]], which documented daily life as a Jewish professor in [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name=business /> |
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George Bartenieff | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 December 1933 invalid month |
| Citizenship | American |
| Occupation(s) | stage and film actor |
| Years active | 1964–present |
George Bartenieff (born January 24, 1933 in Berlin, Germany) is a stage and film actor, noted both for his character roles in commercial films and on television, and for his work in the avant-garde theatre and performance world of downtown Manhattan, New York City in the 1960s-1970s. He is a co-founder of the Theatre for the New City.
Bartenieff appeared in nine shows on Broadway, in over twenty productions Off-Broadway, in seventeen films and in fifteen television episodes.[1][2][3] He is the recipient of two Obie Awards, one for "Sustained Excellence".[4]
As of 2003, Bartenieff was also teaching at the City University of New York, and in a high school in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.[4]
Life and career
Bartenieff made his stage debut at the age of 14 in the 1947 Broadway theatre production The Whole World Over, directed by Harold Clurman.[4] After appearing in a few shows on Broadway, Bartenieff went to London for training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he "fell in love" with the works of Shakespeare.[4] His intention at the time was to be a classical actor, and his hero was Laurence Olivier.[4]
When Bartenieff returned to the United States, he worked with Andre Gregory's Theatre for the Living Arts in Philadelphia. For a number of years in the 1960s, Bartenieff worked with Gregory in Philadelphia, on Broadway, for Joe Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, and in "cross-disciplinary" showcases at the Judson Poets Theatre at the Judson Church in Greenwich Village.[4]
Bartenieff also began to do "street theatre" at this time. One production, with writer/carpenter/landscape artist Bib Nichols, protested against the Lower Manhattan Expressway which Robert Moses wanted to build across the island. Their production played in the street in the neighborhoods which would be effected by the highway, Little Italy and the West Village; the set was constructed in such a way that if a car came by, it would break apart to allow the vehicle to proceed.[4]
In 1970, feeling that the Judson Poets Theatre has past its peak, four artists involved in it – Bartenieff, his wife at the time, Crystal Field, director Larry Kornfield and Theo Barnes – wanted to start their own "cross-disciplanry theater which emphasized poetic language", according to Bartenieff. The Westbeth Artists Community had just started at the time, and a large space appropriate for performance became available. This was the beginning of Theatre for the New City, which still exists, albeit in other quarters.[4] TNC not only did their own work, they invited other companies, such as Mabou Mines, the Talking Band, and Richard Foreman's company, to perform there. They also mounted street theatre productions, with the purpose of making "the theater part of the community, and the community part of the theater."[4]
Bartenieff stayed with Theatre for the New City for 24 years – performing, directing or producing more than 900 new American plays[5] – but left when he began to feel he was spending more time on the financial problems of the company then he was on his craft. "I had to return." said Bartenieff, "to my own work, from being the Cecil B. DeMille of off-off-Broadway to the idea that small is more." To this end, he collaborated with his wife, playwright and director Karen Malpede, to create a one-man show, I Will Bear Witness, an adaptation of the memoirs of Victor Klemperer, which documented daily life as a Jewish professor in Nazi Germany.[4]
References
Notes
- ^ George Bartenieff at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ George Bartenieff on the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- ^ George Bartenieff at IMDb
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Long Run: A Performer's Life" New York Foundation for the Arts Quarterly (Summer 2003)
- ^ Fitch, Clyde. "5 Questions I’ve Never Been Asked: George Bartenieff" The Clyde Fitch Report {October 7, 2012)