Marshall W. Mason
Encyclopedia
Marshall W. Mason is an American
theater director, the founder and for eighteen years, artistic director of the Circle Repertory Company
in New York City
.
Born in Amarillo, Texas
, Mason graduated from Northwestern University
, where he directed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
at the age of 19. He relocated to Manhattan
, where he began working in the off-off-Broadway
theater scene in such venues as Caffe Cino, the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
, and Judson Poets Theatre. He made his off-Broadway
debut in 1964 with a revival of the Henrik Ibsen
play Little Eyolf
. The following year he directed Balm in Gilead
, his first collaboration with playwright Lanford Wilson
. Since then he has directed more than sixty productions of Wilson's plays, including The Hot l Baltimore, for which he won the Obie Award
for Distinguished Direction, Fifth of July
, Talley's Folly
, and Talley & Son
.
His first Broadway
production was the 1976 play Knock Knock by Jules Feiffer
. Additional Broadway credits include Gemini
, Fifth of July
, Talley's Folly
, Angels Fall
, As Is
, Burn This
, The Seagull
, and Redwood Curtain
. He has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play
five times, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play
twice. Off-Broadway
he was awarded five Obies for Outstanding Direction and a sixth Obie Award for Sustained Achievement. He is the recipient of the 1979 Theatre World Award
, and the 1977 Margo Jones Award for his work with the Circle Repertory Company, and a special 1999 "Mr. Abbott Special Millennium Award" as one of the most innovative and influential directors of the twentieth century.
Mason has worked widely in regional theaters, including the Mark Taper Forum
in Los Angeles
, the Guthrie Theater
in Minneapolis, the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago
, Arena Stage
and Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
, the McCarter Theater in Princeton
, the Hartford Stage Company, the Pittsburgh Public Theater
, the Repertory Theater of St. Louis, the Cincinnati Playhouse, and the Milwaukee Rep.
Mason is Professor Emeritus of Theater at Arizona State University
, where he taught for eleven years, and was honored with ASU’s 2001 Creative Activity Award. He is the author of the 2007 book Creating Life On Stage: A Director's Approach to Working with Actors. He divides his time between his homes in Mazatlán
and Manhattan.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theater director, the founder and for eighteen years, artistic director of the Circle Repertory Company
Circle Repertory Company
The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Born in Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
, Mason graduated from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, where he directed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955...
at the age of 19. He relocated to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, where he began working in the off-off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
theater scene in such venues as Caffe Cino, the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is an off-off Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, and named in reference to her. Located on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the theatre grew out of Stewart's tiny basement boutique for her fashion designs; the boutique's space acted as a theatre for...
, and Judson Poets Theatre. He made his off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
debut in 1964 with a revival of the Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
play Little Eyolf
Little Eyolf
Little Eyolf is an 1894 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play was first performed on January 12, 1895 in the Deutsches Theater in Berlin.-Plot:...
. The following year he directed Balm in Gilead
Balm in Gilead
Balm in Gilead is a 1965 play written by American playwright Lanford Wilson.-Dramatic structure:Wilson's first full-length effort, Balm in Gilead centers on a cafe frequented by heroin addicts, prostitutes and thieves...
, his first collaboration with playwright Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson was an American playwright who helped to advance the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980, was elected in 2001 to the Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters...
. Since then he has directed more than sixty productions of Wilson's plays, including The Hot l Baltimore, for which he won the 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...
for Distinguished Direction, Fifth of July
Fifth of July
Fifth of July is a 1978 play by American playwright Lanford Wilson. Set in rural Missouri in 1977, it revolves around the Talley family and their friends, and focuses on the disillusionment with America in the wake of the Vietnam War...
, Talley's Folly
Talley's Folly
Talley's Folly is a 1979 play by American playwright Lanford Wilson, the second in his cycle, The Talley Trilogy between his plays Talley & Son and Fifth of July. Set in an old boathouse near rural Lebanon, Missouri in 1944, it is a romantic comedy following the characters Matt Friedman and Sally...
, and Talley & Son
Talley & Son
Talley & Son is a play by Lanford Wilson, the third in his trilogy focusing on the Talley family of Lebanon, Missouri. It is set on July 4, 1944, the same day as Talley's Folly and thirty-three years prior to the events in Fifth of July....
.
His first Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production was the 1976 play Knock Knock by Jules Feiffer
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
. Additional Broadway credits include Gemini
Gemini (play)
Gemini is a play by Albert Innaurato.-Plot:Set in the backyard of a blue collar South Philadelphia neighborhood early in the summer of 1973, the comedy-drama focuses on the 21st birthday celebration of Harvard student Francis Geminiani...
, Fifth of July
Fifth of July
Fifth of July is a 1978 play by American playwright Lanford Wilson. Set in rural Missouri in 1977, it revolves around the Talley family and their friends, and focuses on the disillusionment with America in the wake of the Vietnam War...
, Talley's Folly
Talley's Folly
Talley's Folly is a 1979 play by American playwright Lanford Wilson, the second in his cycle, The Talley Trilogy between his plays Talley & Son and Fifth of July. Set in an old boathouse near rural Lebanon, Missouri in 1944, it is a romantic comedy following the characters Matt Friedman and Sally...
, Angels Fall
Angels Fall
Angels Fall is a play written by Lanford Wilson. It debuted at New York's Circle Repertory Company in 1982.-Characters:*Niles Harris: a cynical, middle-aged university professor*Vita Harris: his much younger wife...
, As Is
As Is (play)
As Is is a play by William M. Hoffman.The Circle Repertory Company and The Glines co-production, directed by Marshall W. Mason, opened on March 10, 1985 at the Circle Theatre, where it ran for 49 performances...
, Burn This
Burn This
Burn This is a play by Lanford Wilson.-Plot:It begins shortly after the funeral of Robbie, a young gay dancer who drowned in a boating accident. In attendance were his roommates: choreographer Anna and ad man Larry...
, The Seagull
The Seagull
The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
, and Redwood Curtain
Redwood Curtain
Redwood Curtain is a 1995 American dramatic TV movie created by Hallmark Hall of Fame, and directed by John Korty based upon the 1993 Broadway play of the same name by Lanford Wilson. Starring Jeff Daniels, Lea Salonga, Debra Monk and John Lithgow, the film debuted on ABC on April 23,...
. He has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play
Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play
The Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play has been given since 1960. Before 1960 there was only one award for both play direction and musical direction, then in 1960 the award was split into two categories: Dramatic and Musical. In 1976 the Dramatic category was renamed to Play...
five times, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play was first awarded at the 1974–1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since...
twice. Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
he was awarded five Obies for Outstanding Direction and a sixth Obie Award for Sustained Achievement. He is the recipient of the 1979 Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
, and the 1977 Margo Jones Award for his work with the Circle Repertory Company, and a special 1999 "Mr. Abbott Special Millennium Award" as one of the most innovative and influential directors of the twentieth century.
Mason has worked widely in regional theaters, including 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...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, the Guthrie Theater
Guthrie Theater
The Guthrie Theater is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the result of the desire of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Oliver Rea, and Peter Zeisler to create a resident acting company that would produce and perform the classics in...
in Minneapolis, the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
and Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, the McCarter Theater in Princeton
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, the Hartford Stage Company, the Pittsburgh Public Theater
Pittsburgh Public Theater
Pittsburgh Public Theater is a professional theater company based in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Cultural District.Established in 1974, it was housed in the Hazlett Theatre at the Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall on Pittsburgh’s North Side...
, the Repertory Theater of St. Louis, the Cincinnati Playhouse, and the Milwaukee Rep.
Mason is Professor Emeritus of Theater at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, where he taught for eleven years, and was honored with ASU’s 2001 Creative Activity Award. He is the author of the 2007 book Creating Life On Stage: A Director's Approach to Working with Actors. He divides his time between his homes in Mazatlán
Mazatlán
Mazatlán is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa; the surrounding municipio for which the city serves as the municipal seat is Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning...
and Manhattan.
Additional directing credits
- Home Free! (1965)
- The Madness of Lady BrightThe Madness of Lady BrightThe Madness of Lady Bright is a short play by Lanford Wilson, among the earliest of the gay theatre movement. It was first performed at Joe Cino's Caffe Cino in May 1964 and went on to tour internationally, appearing in revivals to the present day...
(1968) - The Gingham Dog (1968)
- Three SistersThree Sisters (play)Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
(1970) - The Sea Horse (1974)
- Battle of Angels (1974)
- The Mound Builders (1975)
- Serenading Louie (1976)
- Murder at the Howard Johnson'sMurder at the Howard Johnson'sMurder at the Howard Johnson's is a 1979 play in two acts by American playwrights Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick. The production officially opened on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre after 10 preview performances on May 17, 1979; closing just three days later after only 4 more performances. The...
(1979) - Angels FallAngels FallAngels Fall is a play written by Lanford Wilson. It debuted at New York's Circle Repertory Company in 1982.-Characters:*Niles Harris: a cynical, middle-aged university professor*Vita Harris: his much younger wife...
(1983) - PassionPassion (play)Passion Play is a 1981 play by British playwright Peter Nichols dealing with adultery and betrayal. It was originally intended to open the Royal Shakespeare Company's new Barbican Theatre but was produced by them at the London's Aldwych Theatre in 1981...
(1983) - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey and George Grizzard as Nick. It was directed by Alan Schneider...
(1985) - Sunshine (1989)
- The Destiny of MeThe Destiny of MeThe Destiny of Me is a play by Larry Kramer. It focuses on Ned Weeks, a character introduced in The Normal Heart, as he checks into the National Institutes of Health to undergo an experimental treatment for AIDS...
(1992) - A Poster of the Cosmos (1994)
- The Moonshot Tape (1994)
- Cakewalk (1996)
- Robbers (1997)
- Sympathetic Magic (1997)
- Long Day's Journey into NightLong Day's Journey Into NightLong Day's Journey Into Night is a 1956 drama in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play is widely considered to be his masterwork...
(1998) - Book of Days (2002)
- The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (2007)