The Group Theatre was a theater collective based in New York City and formed in 1931 by Harold Clurman , Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg . It was intended as a base for the kind of theatre they and their colleagues believed in—a forceful, naturalistic and highly disciplined artistry. They were pioneers of what would become an "American acting technique", derived from the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavski , but pushed beyond them as well. The company included actors, directors, playwrights, and producers. The name "Group" came from the idea of the actors as a pure ensemble ; a reference to the company as "our group" led them to "accept the inevitable and call their company The Group Theatre."
27-669: The Actors' Laboratory Theatre was a politically active theatre company and acting school founded in January 1941 by Roman Bohnen , Jules Dassin , Dick Flake, Lloyd Bridges , Danny Mann, Jeff Corey , Mary Virginia Farmer and J. Edward Bromberg . During the Second World War , the Actors' Lab made multiple performances for servicemen, in association with the Hollywood Victory Committee . The Actors' Lab
54-736: A B.A., Roman served his acting apprenticeship in theater companies in St. Paul and Chicago , eventually spending five years with the Goodman Theatre . At the Goodman, he met fellow actor Hildur Ouse, who became his wife. The Bohnens moved to New York City , where he made his Broadway debut in 1931 in As Husbands Go . Bohnen, In the summer of 1932, at the behest of his friend from the Goodman Theatre Art Smith , he
81-521: A daughter in 1936, Marina. Hildur died in 1941. While performing in a Lab production, Bohnen collapsed as the curtain fell on the second act. He had been suffering from a heart ailment. Bohnen was survived by his daughter, father, sister, and brother. In her book on the Group Theater, Real Life Drama , author Wendy Smith wrote that the stress of the Lab's difficulties, and his personal problems as
108-949: A lead part in the Group's hit play, Success Story by John Howard Lawson . The very next day, Incubator , a play Bohnen had written with John Lyman, opened on Broadway (produced by another organization). Although Incubator received favorable reviews, it closed quickly. In the plays written by his friend, Clifford Odets , for the Group Theatre, he created the roles of Dr. Barnes in Waiting for Lefty , Schlosser in Awake and Sing! , Gus Michaels in Paradise Lost , Tom Moody in Golden Boy and Mr. Tucker in Night Music . Bohnen spent
135-417: A result, were blacklisted . Elia Kazan would later state he abandoned his Communist views in part because of an agenda to transform the Group Theatre into a company devoted to promoting "Marxist ideology." Odets would share similar concerns after experiencing pressure from the party to change the direction of his writing. Mark Kemble's play Names covers the relationship between HUAC and the former members of
162-704: A single parent, contributed to his death. Group Theatre (New York) The New York–based Group Theatre had no connection with the identically named Group Theatre based in London and founded in 1932. In the ten years of its existence, the Group Theatre produced works by many important American playwrights , including Clifford Odets , Sidney Kingsley , Paul Green , Robert Ardrey , and Irwin Shaw . Its most notable productions included Success Story starring Stella Adler and Luther Adler , Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing , Waiting for Lefty , Paradise Lost , and
189-766: The 1937–38 Broadway hit Golden Boy , starring Luther Adler and Frances Farmer . The Group Theatre included Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, Cheryl Crawford, Stella Adler (a founding member), Morris Carnovsky , Clifford Odets , Sanford Meisner , Elia Kazan , Harry Morgan (billed as Harry Bratsburg), Robert Lewis , John Garfield (billed as Jules Garfield), Canada Lee , Franchot Tone , Frances Farmer , Phoebe Brand , Ruth Nelson , Will Geer , Howard da Silva , Sidney Lumet , John Randolph , Joseph Bromberg , Michael Gordon , Paul Green , Marc Blitzstein , Paul Strand , Anna Sokolow , Lee J. Cobb , Roman Bohnen , Jay Adler , Luther Adler, Robert Ardrey , Don Richardson and many others. The Group Theatre's first production
216-586: The American theater landscape for many years to come, the group ended by 1941, and factors included the impending war, the lure of fame and fortune in Hollywood, the lack of institutional funding, and the friction of interpersonal relationships. After the war, in 1947, Robert Lewis, Elia Kazan, and Cheryl Crawford founded the Actors Studio , where the techniques inspired by Stanislavski and developed in
243-917: The Dauphin of France, in the Ingrid Bergman film, Joan of Arc (1948). He played the Old Man in Jules Dassin 's short film The Tell-Tale Heart (1941) Bohnen was cast as President Harry Truman in The Beginning or the End , an MGM docu-drama about the atomic bomb. After a private screening in late 1946, Truman let it be known that he disapproved of his portrayal regarding the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan. On December 2, 1946, Bohnen wrote Truman that he should portray himself. On December 12, Truman responded to Bohnen's letter, but declined
270-654: The Group Theatre were refined. Under the leadership of Lee Strasberg, who later joined the Actors Studio and became its director in 1951, what is now referred to as The Method emerged as a lasting force in modern drama. Institutionally, the Group Theatre influenced the Chelsea Theater Center , a later theater in New York (1960s and 1970s), born of idealism and destroyed by lack of funding and friction between its co-directors. Harold Prince invokes
297-659: The Stanislavskian aesthetic. The following year, the group produced the Paul Green- Kurt Weill anti-war musical Johnny Johnson , directed by Strasberg. The Group Theatre's most successful production was the 1937–38 Broadway hit Golden Boy . Elia Kazan directed Robert Ardrey 's plays Casey Jones and Thunder Rock in 1938 and 1939–40 for the Group Theatre. The group gathered at different summer locations to rehearse and train intensively for six of its 10 years in existence. The group spent
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#1732797600849324-489: The chance to portray himself, and said that he was "sure you (Bohnen) will do the part creditably". Ultimately, the scenes were re-shot with actor Art Baker re-cast as Truman. With other former Group Theatre actors, he was co-founder of the politically active Actors' Laboratory Theatre , serving on its executive board. The Actors' Laboratory was accused of Communist leanings, and in February 1948 Bohnen and other members of
351-566: The failure of a play called Five Alarm Waltz in 1941, Bohnen and his daughter Marina moved to Hollywood. His first film was the Vogues of 1938 (1937). By 1941, he was working almost exclusively in film. Among his better-known roles are Candy in Of Mice and Men (1939) and Pat Derry in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). He also played Durand Laxart, Joan's uncle, who takes her to see
378-608: The first full season (1933–34), Men in White , written by Sidney Kingsley , directed by Lee Strasberg and produced by Sidney Harmon , became a financial success for the group. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama . On the night of January 5, 1935, some members of the group participated in a benefit performance for the New Theatre Magazine . Written by Clifford Odets and directed by Odets and Sanford Meisner,
405-568: The group in his foreword to the book Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater . In the 1950s, many of the former members were called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Those who appeared as friendly witnesses, such as Elia Kazan, Clifford Odets, and Lee J. Cobb, avoided the fate of their colleagues who refused to name Communist Party members and, as
432-444: The group were subpoenaed to appear before a California Senate committee. He and the others refused to answer questions about whether or not they had ever been Communists. Subsequently, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service revoked the Actors' Laboratory's tax-exempt status. Bohnen worked hard to keep the group alive, and was recognized as the "driving force behind all of its activities. The Actors' Laboratory folded in 1950. The Bohnens had
459-497: The group's tax exempt status, and the Veterans Administration cancelled its contracts with the group. Bohnen, considered the group's driving force in its final days, died of a heart attack during an Actors' Lab performance, and his death was partly attributed to the Lab's difficulties. The theatre was closed in February 1950. Roman Bohnen Roman Aloys Bohnen (November 24, 1901 – February 24, 1949)
486-541: The majority of the positive reviews. The group took on novelist Dawn Powell 's dark comedy Big Night , rehearsed it for six months and asked for extensive revisions from the playwright. The result was a critical and box-office disaster that ran a scant nine performances. Harold Clurman, who took over the production late in the rehearsal period, later admitted the group's role in the fiasco. "The play should have been done in four swift weeks—or not at all. We worried it and harried our actors with it for months." Later, during
513-626: The one-act play Waiting for Lefty was performed at the Civic Repertory Theatre in New York City and became a theatrical legend. The play reflects a kind of street poetry that brought great acclaim to the group and to Odets as the new voice of social drama in the 1930s. Odets became the playwright most strongly identified with the group, and its productions of Awake and Sing! and Paradise Lost , both directed in 1935 by Harold Clurman, proved to be excellent vehicles for
540-672: The summer of 1931 at Brookfield Center, 1936 at Pine Brook Country Club , located near Nichols, Connecticut . Other summer venues included Brookfield Center, Connecticut (1931); Dover Furnace in Dutchess County, New York (1932); Green Mansions in Warrensburg, New York in 1933; a large house in Ellenville, New York (1934); and Lake Grove in Smithtown, New York in 1939. Despite its success and sweeping impact on
567-535: The summer of 1936 at Pine Brook Country Club in Nichols, Connecticut . Pinebrook is best known for that year's summer rehearsal venue of the Group Theatre . Some of the other artists who summered there were Elia Kazan , Harry Morgan , John Garfield , Lee J. Cobb , Will Geer , Clifford Odets , Howard Da Silva and Irwin Shaw . The Group Theatre disbanded in 1941, the same year that Hildur died. After
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#1732797600849594-623: Was Paul Green 's The House of Connelly on September 23, 1931, at the Martin Beck Theatre . The company asked the Theatre Guild to help cover the $ 5,000 cost to perform. The Theatre Guild offered to pay the full amount if the group "removed Mary Morris and Morris Carnovsky from the cast and restored the tragic ending" from the more upbeat and hopeful rewrite Green produced. The group refused and instead raised half on its own, receiving support from Eugene O'Neill. The play
621-537: Was an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films Of Mice and Men (1939), The Song of Bernadette (1943), and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Born in St. Paul, Minnesota , Bohnen attended the University of Minnesota , where he was a cheerleader. He was the son of Karl Bohnen, a portrait painter. The family was financially hard-pressed during his youth. After graduating in 1923 with
648-401: Was an immediate critical success and was recognized for the special ensemble performances which the group would develop. The group's production of John Howard Lawson 's Success Story , which chronicled the rise of a youthful idealist who sacrifices his principles as he rises to the top of the advertising business, received very mixed reviews, with Luther Adler and Stella Adler receiving
675-482: Was eventually denounced as a communist organization, and some of its existing members and former members, including Jules Dassin, Lloyd Bridges and Morris Carnovsky , were blacklisted . Owing to the accusations of communism, the Actors' Lab lost its sources of financial support. Bohnen and other principals of the theater were called before a California Senate committee and declined to disclose if they were Communists. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service subsequently withdrew
702-424: Was invited to join the Group Theatre , which became his artistic home for the next nine years. As a member of the Group, he appeared in numerous plays and was active in all aspects of the company. In her book on the Group Theatre, author Wendy Smith observes that Bohnen "fit easily and naturally into the Group" and was appreciated for his sense of humor, generosity and hard work. On January 2, 1933, Bohnen took over
729-444: Was originally above Sharkey's Bar at the corner of Franklin and Bronson Avenues in Hollywood. In 1943, the theatre moved to 1455 North Laurel Avenue, Hollywood, California. The Actors' Lab brought the ideas and acting techniques of New York's Group Theatre to California, and "prided itself on having opened its doors to students of all races." Hedda Hopper criticized the group for this opposition to racial segregation. The Actors' Lab
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