Joseph Chaikin
Encyclopedia
Joseph Chaikin was an American
theatre
director, playwright
, and pedagogue.
Chaikin briefly attended Drake University
in Iowa
, and then returned to New York to begin a career in theater, studying with various acting coaches, while struggling to survive working a variety of jobs. He appeared as a figurant at the Metropolitan Opera, and gradually began to be cast in legitimate stage roles, going on to work with The Living Theatre
before founding in 1963 The Open Theater
a theater co-operative that progressed from a closed experimental laboratory to a performance ensemble.
by Samuel Beckett, with Chaikin playing the role of Hamm and Peter Maloney as Clov, at the Cite Universitaire, Paris, and in 1970 at the Grasslands Penitentiary, a fulfillment of Chaikin's desire to experiment with audiences who would be fundamentally and culturally different from cosmopolitan audiences.
In 1970- 71 Open Theatre performed Terminal by Susan Yankowitz, touring the production internationally as well as to many maximum and minimum security prisons in the eastern U.S. and Canada. The Open Theater operated for about ten years. Chaikin closed the Open Theatre in 1973 because he said it was in danger of becoming an institution. Although it achieved much critical success, Chaikin said: "I have rarely known a case where a critic's response to actors, directors or writers has expanded or encouraged their talent- I have known cases where by panning or praising, the critic has crushed or discouraged creative inspiration".
His first work after closing the Open Theatre was in collaboration with the playwright Robert Montgomery: ELECTRA, a three-character version of the Electra myth with Michele Collison (from Peter Brooks' company) in the title role, Paul Zimet as Orestes, and Shami Chaikin, Joe's sister, as Clytemnestra. The work was a critical success in New York City, and later toured colleges in the United States with Tina Shepard in the title role.
In the mid-1970s, Chaikin formed an experimental workshop company called The Winter Project, whose members included Ronnie Gilbert
, Corey Fischer
, Robbie McCauley, Mark Samuels, Robert Montgomery, Christopher McCann
and Will Patton
, as well as core members of the previous Open Theatre, among others. In the Winter Project, Chaikin proposed and participated in explorations of the boundary between life and death, the actor as storyteller, listening, found dialogue and more. His production of The Dybbuk at the Public Theater in 1977-78 was, to some extent, influenced by some of these researches. Chaikin had a close working relationship with Sam Shepard
and together they wrote the plays Tongues
and Savage/Love, both of which premiered at San Francisco's Magic Theatre
. They were commissioned to write When The World Was Green for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia
, and later, they wrote together War in Heaven. Chaikin was an expert on Samuel Beckett
, directing a number of Beckett's plays, including Endgame
at the Manhattan Theatre Club
and Happy Days
at Cherry Lane Theater.
Chaikin received six Obie Award
s, including one for Lifetime Achievement, and two Guggenheim Fellowship
s.
His book, "The Presence of The Actor" was first published in 1972 by Theatre Communications Group, and a second edition followed in 1991. Based on his experiments with actors, the book includes exemplar notes, photographs, and exercises from Open Theatre productions, and records Chaikin's ideas about theater as a tool for social transformation.
suffered during his third open-heart surgery left Chaikin with partial aphasia
. Despite this barrier to communication, Chaikin continued to act, direct and to create plays in collaboration with other actors, writers, and groups including Mira Rafalowicz, Traveling Jewish Theatre, Michael Posnick and John Belluso
, whose disability-themed plays were produced at the Mark Taper Forum
, Trinity Rep, Pacific Repertory Theatre
, Keen Company and the New York Shakespeare Festival
.
Following Chaikin's stroke, several writers, including Jean-Claude van Itallie, Susan Yankowitz, and Sam Shepard, wrote plays specifically for Chaikin to perform and direct. Samuel Beckett's last poem, What Is the Word?, was written for and dedicated to Chaikin. Overpowering his aphasia once again, Chaikin publicly performed the poem.
Chaikin was a lifelong teacher of acting and directing, and lived most of his adult life in New York's West Village, at Westbeth Artists Community
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
director, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, and pedagogue.
Early years
The youngest of five children, Chaikin was born to a poor Jewish family living in the Borough Park residential area of Brooklyn. At the age of six, he was struck with rheumatic fever, and he continued to suffer from resulting heart complications throughout his life. At the age of ten, he was sent to the National Children's Cardiac Hospital in Florida. It was during this period of isolation he began to organize theater games with other children. After two years in Florida, his health improved, and he was returned to his family, who had moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where his father had taken a job teaching.Chaikin briefly attended Drake University
Drake University
Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....
in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, and then returned to New York to begin a career in theater, studying with various acting coaches, while struggling to survive working a variety of jobs. He appeared as a figurant at the Metropolitan Opera, and gradually began to be cast in legitimate stage roles, going on to work with The Living Theatre
The Living Theatre
The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group still existing in the U.S...
before founding in 1963 The Open Theater
The Open Theater
The Open Theater was an experimental theatre group active from 1963 to 1973.It was founded in New York City by a group of former students of acting teacher Nola Chilton, and joined shortly thereafter by director Joseph Chaikin, formerly of The Living Theatre, and Peter Feldman...
a theater co-operative that progressed from a closed experimental laboratory to a performance ensemble.
Career
The Open Theatre's most famous and critically acclaimed production, The Serpent, was a unique creation developed largely from the actors' own experiences, using the Bible as text, but incorporating current events, such as the violence that plagued the 1960s. In 1969 Open Theatre performed EndgameEndgame (play)
Endgame, by Samuel Beckett, is a one-act play with four characters, written in a style associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. It was originally written in French ; as was his custom, Beckett himself translated it into English. The play was first performed in a French-language production at the...
by Samuel Beckett, with Chaikin playing the role of Hamm and Peter Maloney as Clov, at the Cite Universitaire, Paris, and in 1970 at the Grasslands Penitentiary, a fulfillment of Chaikin's desire to experiment with audiences who would be fundamentally and culturally different from cosmopolitan audiences.
In 1970- 71 Open Theatre performed Terminal by Susan Yankowitz, touring the production internationally as well as to many maximum and minimum security prisons in the eastern U.S. and Canada. The Open Theater operated for about ten years. Chaikin closed the Open Theatre in 1973 because he said it was in danger of becoming an institution. Although it achieved much critical success, Chaikin said: "I have rarely known a case where a critic's response to actors, directors or writers has expanded or encouraged their talent- I have known cases where by panning or praising, the critic has crushed or discouraged creative inspiration".
His first work after closing the Open Theatre was in collaboration with the playwright Robert Montgomery: ELECTRA, a three-character version of the Electra myth with Michele Collison (from Peter Brooks' company) in the title role, Paul Zimet as Orestes, and Shami Chaikin, Joe's sister, as Clytemnestra. The work was a critical success in New York City, and later toured colleges in the United States with Tina Shepard in the title role.
In the mid-1970s, Chaikin formed an experimental workshop company called The Winter Project, whose members included Ronnie Gilbert
Ronnie Gilbert
Ronnie Gilbert is an American folk-singer. She is one of the original members of the Weavers with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and Fred Hellerman.-Career:...
, Corey Fischer
Corey Fischer
Corey Fischer , born in 1945 in Los Angeles, received a BA in French and Theatre Arts from UCLA. In the mid-sixties he worked in Los Angeles in improvisational theatre, notably with The Committee, and went on to work in film and television...
, Robbie McCauley, Mark Samuels, Robert Montgomery, Christopher McCann
Christopher McCann
Christopher McCann is an Obie Award winning American actor for the stage, television and film.-Career:McCann attended St. Francis Preparatory School in New York during high school, and then went on to attend New York University for drama...
and Will Patton
Will Patton
William Rankin "Will" Patton is an American actor.-Life and career:Patton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest of three children. His father is Bill Patton, a playwright and acting/directing instructor who was a Lutheran minister and served as a chaplain at Duke University...
, as well as core members of the previous Open Theatre, among others. In the Winter Project, Chaikin proposed and participated in explorations of the boundary between life and death, the actor as storyteller, listening, found dialogue and more. His production of The Dybbuk at the Public Theater in 1977-78 was, to some extent, influenced by some of these researches. Chaikin had a close working relationship with Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
and together they wrote the plays Tongues
Tongues (play)
Tongues is a 1978 play by Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin. Tongues is a series of monologues set to percussion and meant for one actor. Shepard and Chaikin had previously agreed to do a piece surrounding the concept of the voice, and nearing completion of the piece, decided it required some kind of...
and Savage/Love, both of which premiered at San Francisco's Magic Theatre
Magic Theatre
The Magic Theatre is a theatre company founded in 1967, presently based at the historic Fort Mason Center on San Francisco's northern waterfront...
. They were commissioned to write When The World Was Green for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, and later, they wrote together War in Heaven. Chaikin was an expert on Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
, directing a number of Beckett's plays, including Endgame
Endgame (play)
Endgame, by Samuel Beckett, is a one-act play with four characters, written in a style associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. It was originally written in French ; as was his custom, Beckett himself translated it into English. The play was first performed in a French-language production at the...
at the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
and Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
at Cherry Lane Theater.
Chaikin received six Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
s, including one for Lifetime Achievement, and two Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
s.
His book, "The Presence of The Actor" was first published in 1972 by Theatre Communications Group, and a second edition followed in 1991. Based on his experiments with actors, the book includes exemplar notes, photographs, and exercises from Open Theatre productions, and records Chaikin's ideas about theater as a tool for social transformation.
Personal life
In 1984, a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
suffered during his third open-heart surgery left Chaikin with partial aphasia
Aphasia
Aphasia is an impairment of language ability. This class of language disorder ranges from having difficulty remembering words to being completely unable to speak, read, or write....
. Despite this barrier to communication, Chaikin continued to act, direct and to create plays in collaboration with other actors, writers, and groups including Mira Rafalowicz, Traveling Jewish Theatre, Michael Posnick and John Belluso
John Belluso
John Belluso was an American playwright best known for his works focusing on the lives of disabled people.He also directed a writing program for disabled people....
, whose disability-themed plays were produced at the Mark Taper Forum
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...
, Trinity Rep, Pacific Repertory Theatre
Pacific Repertory Theatre
The Pacific Repertory Theatre is a non-profit California corporation, based in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, that produces theatrical productions and events, including the annual Carmel Shake-speare Festival, and is the only year-round professional Equity theatre in the Central California Coast...
, Keen Company and the New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
.
Following Chaikin's stroke, several writers, including Jean-Claude van Itallie, Susan Yankowitz, and Sam Shepard, wrote plays specifically for Chaikin to perform and direct. Samuel Beckett's last poem, What Is the Word?, was written for and dedicated to Chaikin. Overpowering his aphasia once again, Chaikin publicly performed the poem.
Chaikin was a lifelong teacher of acting and directing, and lived most of his adult life in New York's West Village, at Westbeth Artists Community
Westbeth Artists Community
Westbeth Artists Housing, located at 463 West Street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan, is the largest such community in the world. This low- to middle-income rental housing project was developed with the assistance of the J.M...
.