Ontological-Hysteric Theater
Encyclopedia
The Ontological-Hysteric Theater (OHT) was founded in 1968 by Richard Foreman
. According to his website, his aim was
and abroad. Five of his plays have received "OBIE"
awards as best play of the year—and he has received five other "OBIE'S" for directing and for 'sustained achievement'. He has received the annual Literature award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a "Lifetime Achievement in the Theater" award from the National Endowment for the Arts
, the PEN Club Master American Dramatist Award, a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship
, and in 2004 was elected officer of the Order of Arts and Letters of France. His archives and work materials have recently been acquired by the Bobst Library at New York University
(NYU).
Since the early seventies the Ontological has been funded by the NEA, NYSCA, as well as many other foundations and private individuals. In the early 1980s a branch of the theater was established in Paris
and funded by the French
government. The theater is currently located in the historic St Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
in New York City's East Village
neighborhood, and serves as a home to Foreman's annual productions as well as to other local and international artists.
Foreman's plays have been co-produced by such organizations as The New York Shakespeare Festival
, La Mama
, The Wooster Group and the Festival d'Autumn in Paris and the Vienna Festival
. He has collaborated (as librettist and stage director) with composer Stanley Silverman on 8 music theater pieces produced by The Music Theater Group & The New York City Opera
. He wrote and directed the feature film, Strong Medicine
. He has also directed and designed many classical productions with major theaters around the world including, Threepenny Opera, The Golem and plays by Havel
, Botho Strauss, and Suzan-Lori Parks
for The New York Shakespeare Festival, Die Fledermaus
at the Paris Opéra
, Don Giovanni
at the Opera de Lille
, Philip Glass
's Fall of the House of Usher at the American Repertory Theater and The Maggio Musicale in Florence, Woyzeck
at Hartford Stage Company, Don Juan
at the Guthrie Theater and The New York Shakespeare Festival, Kathy Acker
's Birth of the Poet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the RO theater in Rotterdam
, Gertrude Stein
's Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights at the Autumn Festivals in Berlin and Paris.
and Tokyo
.
Foreman self-publishes his "notebooks" (the collections of dialogue snippets and ideas that become his shows) on his website, where he invites any interested artists to use them as a creative springboard.
, some of the artists of Collapsable Giraffe, Radiohole, Elevator Repair Service
, National Theater of the United States of America
, Doorika
, Richard Maxwell, Juliana Francis
, Sophie Haviland, Robert Cucuzza, DJ Mendel, Ken Nintzel, Marie Losier, and Young Jean Lee.
In 2005, the OHT chose to formalize its relationship with emerging artists by starting the Ontological-Hysteric Incubator. The Incubator is programming that guides artists from workshop phases to fully realized productions. The Incubator houses artists, who follow in the compositional theater footsteps of Foreman, but have their own unique visions and strategies for unsettling perception and disorienting understanding. The Incubator programming provides these younger artists with aesthetic and practical mentorship and support on their way towards self-sustaining productions.
Richard Foreman
Richard Foreman is an American playwright and avant-garde theater pioneer. He is the founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater.-Life :...
. According to his website, his aim was
- "[S]tripping the theater bare of everything but the singular and essential impulse to stage the static tension of interpersonal relations in space. The OHT seeks to produce works that balance a primitive and minimalMinimalismMinimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
style with extremely complex and theatrical themes. The core of the company's annual programming is Richard Foreman's theater pieces, of which he has made over 50 in the last 40 years."http://www.ontological.com/INFO/index.html
Total Theater
According to his website,- "Foreman’s trademark “total theater” unites elements of the performative, auditory and visual arts, philosophyPhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, psychoanalysisPsychoanalysisPsychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
and literature for a unique result. Foreman's style is not meant to be ‘cerebral', but rather, the density of his compositional theater is an attempt to viscerally reflect and process everything that he has inherited from his explorations in twentieth century thought and art. Foreman engages in what the poet John KeatsJohn KeatsJohn Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
famously described as “negative capability” - i.e. "when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason." He seeks to make work that unsettles and disorients received ideas and opens the doors for alternative models of perception, organization, and understanding. Of course as times, technologies and experiences change, strategies must shift as well. In 2005 Foreman began a second chapter in his work with the introduction of the digital video and film media as dominating forces in his redefinition of ontologicallyOntologyOntology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
hysteric theater."http://www.ontological.com/INFO/index.html
Production history
Richard Foreman has written, directed and designed over fifty of his own plays both in New York CityNew 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...
and abroad. Five of his plays have received "OBIE"
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...
awards as best play of the year—and he has received five other "OBIE'S" for directing and for 'sustained achievement'. He has received the annual Literature award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a "Lifetime Achievement in the Theater" award from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, the PEN Club Master American Dramatist Award, a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
, and in 2004 was elected officer of the Order of Arts and Letters of France. His archives and work materials have recently been acquired by the Bobst Library at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(NYU).
Since the early seventies the Ontological has been funded by the NEA, NYSCA, as well as many other foundations and private individuals. In the early 1980s a branch of the theater was established in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and funded by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
government. The theater is currently located in the historic St Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
St Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery is located at 131 East 10th Street, at the intersection of Stuyvesant Streets and Second Avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City...
in New York City's East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
neighborhood, and serves as a home to Foreman's annual productions as well as to other local and international artists.
Foreman's plays have been co-produced by such organizations as 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...
, La Mama
La Mama
La Mama may refer to:* La Mama - a German disco group* La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in East Village, Manhattan, New York City, founded 1961* La Mama Theatre in Carlton, Victoria, Australia, founded 1967...
, The Wooster Group and the Festival d'Autumn in Paris and the Vienna Festival
Vienna Festival
The Wiener Festwochen is a cultural festival in Vienna that takes place every year for five or six weeks in May and June.The Wiener Festwochen was established in 1951, when Vienna was still occupied by the four Allies...
. He has collaborated (as librettist and stage director) with composer Stanley Silverman on 8 music theater pieces produced by The Music Theater Group & The New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
. He wrote and directed the feature film, Strong Medicine
Strong Medicine
Strong Medicine is a medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict. The television series aired on the Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It is distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The series was created and produced in part by comedienne and...
. He has also directed and designed many classical productions with major theaters around the world including, Threepenny Opera, The Golem and plays by Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, Botho Strauss, and Suzan-Lori Parks
Suzan-Lori Parks
Suzan-Lori Parks is an African American playwright and screenwriter. She received the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant in 2001, and the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, Topdog/Underdog.-Early years:...
for The New York Shakespeare Festival, Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
at the Paris Opéra
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
, Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
at the Opera de Lille
Opéra de Lille
The Opéra de Lille is a theater-style neo-classical opera house, built from 1907 to 1913 and officially inaugurated in 1923.In 1903 fire destroyed the previous Lille opera house, which had been designed by Lille architect Michael Joseph Lequeux and built in 1785. For the replacement city officials...
, Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
's Fall of the House of Usher at the American Repertory Theater and The Maggio Musicale in Florence, Woyzeck
Woyzeck
Woyzeck is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. He left the work incomplete at his death, but it has been variously and posthumously "finished" by a variety of authors, editors and translators. Woyzeck has become one of the most performed and influential plays in the German theatre...
at Hartford Stage Company, Don Juan
Don Juan
Don Juan is a legendary, fictional libertine whose story has been told many times by many authors. El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra by Tirso de Molina is a play set in the fourteenth century that was published in Spain around 1630...
at the Guthrie Theater and The New York Shakespeare Festival, Kathy Acker
Kathy Acker
Kathy Acker was an American experimental novelist, punk poet, playwright, essayist, postmodernist and sex-positive feminist writer. She was strongly influenced by the Black Mountain School, William S...
's Birth of the Poet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the RO theater in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
's Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights at the Autumn Festivals in Berlin and Paris.
Published works
Seven collections of Foreman's plays have already been published, and books studying his work have been published in New York, Paris, BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
Foreman self-publishes his "notebooks" (the collections of dialogue snippets and ideas that become his shows) on his website, where he invites any interested artists to use them as a creative springboard.
Side projects
Since taking up its home at the Ontological Theater at St. Mark's in 1992, the OHT has also been nurturing a new generation of artists who share Foreman's goals and passion for theater. Through internship, staffing, summer residency and curation efforts, the OHT has been a starting point for many artists making their mark in New York City and internationally including David Herskovits, Artistic Director of Target Margin Theater, Damon Keily, Artistic Director of American Theater in ChicagoChicago
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...
, some of the artists of Collapsable Giraffe, Radiohole, Elevator Repair Service
Elevator Repair Service
Elevator Repair Service are a New York-based theater ensemble founded by director John Collins and a group of actors in 1991.ERS have performed in various New York including Performance Space 122, The Performing Garage, HERE, The Ontological at St. Mark's Church, The Flea, The Kitchen, and Soho...
, National Theater of the United States of America
National Theater of the United States of America
National Theater of the United States of America is a theater company in New York City. The theater has no connection with the American government, the name is intended to be humorous....
, Doorika
Doorika
Doorika was a performance arts collective based in Chicago and New York City from 1990-1999. It was a collaborative group with a mix bag of visual artists, performers, non-actors and musicians who worked on developing multi-media theater projects. It was co-founded by John Dooley and Erika Yeomans...
, Richard Maxwell, Juliana Francis
Juliana Francis
Juliana Francis, also known as Julianna Francis or Juliana Francis-Kelly, is an American playwright and actress. She is the recipient of an Obie Award for her performance in Richard Foreman's Maria Del Bosco, and a Dramalogue Award for Reza Abdoh's The Hip-hop Waltz of Eurydice...
, Sophie Haviland, Robert Cucuzza, DJ Mendel, Ken Nintzel, Marie Losier, and Young Jean Lee.
In 2005, the OHT chose to formalize its relationship with emerging artists by starting the Ontological-Hysteric Incubator. The Incubator is programming that guides artists from workshop phases to fully realized productions. The Incubator houses artists, who follow in the compositional theater footsteps of Foreman, but have their own unique visions and strategies for unsettling perception and disorienting understanding. The Incubator programming provides these younger artists with aesthetic and practical mentorship and support on their way towards self-sustaining productions.
See also
- Speculations: An Essay on the TheaterSpeculations: An Essay on the TheaterSpeculations: An Essay on the Theater is a treatise by one of today's major experimental playwrights: Mac Wellman. It was published with the collection of plays entitled The Difficulty of Crossing a Field...
- Mac WellmanMac WellmanMac Wellman is an American playwright, author, and poet. Wellman is best known for his experimental work in the theater which rebels against theatrical conventions, often abandoning such traditional elements as plot and character altogether...
- The Flea TheaterThe Flea TheaterThe Flea Theater, founded in 1996, is a theatre in the TriBeCa section of New York City. It presents primarily new American theatre, and provides a venue for film stars to act on a very small stage. It is the home of "The Bat Theater Company", an Obie Award winning resident acting troupe of...
- Performance artPerformance artIn art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
- Elizabeth LeCompteElizabeth LeCompteElizabeth LeCompte is a founding member and the theater director of experimental theater collective The Wooster Group .-Biography:...
- The Wooster GroupThe Wooster GroupThe Wooster Group is a New York City-based experimental theater company known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged during 1975-1980 from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group and took its name in 1980...
- Richard ForemanRichard ForemanRichard Foreman is an American playwright and avant-garde theater pioneer. He is the founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater.-Life :...
- Richard SchechnerRichard SchechnerRichard Schechner is Professor of Performance Studies at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University , editor of TDR: The Drama Review, and artistic director of East Coast Artists. His BA is from Cornell University , MA from the University of Iowa , and PhD from Tulane University...
- HappeningHappeningA happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art, usually as performance art. Happenings take place anywhere , are often multi-disciplinary, with a nonlinear narrative and the active participation of the audience...
s - Allan KaprowAllan KaprowAllan Kaprow was an American painter, assemblagist and a pioneer in establishing the concepts of performance art. He helped to develop the "Environment" and "Happening" in the late 1950s and 1960s, as well as their theory. His Happenings - some 200 of them - evolved over the years...
- FluxusFluxusFluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
- IntermediaIntermediaIntermedia was a concept employed in the mid-sixties by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe the ineffable, often confusing, inter-disciplinary activities that occur between genres that became prevalent in the 1960s. Thus, the areas such as those between drawing and poetry, or between painting...
- Dick HigginsDick HigginsDick Higgins was a composer, poet, printer, and early Fluxus artist. Higgins was born in Cambridge, England, but raised in the United States in various parts of New England, including Worcester, Massachusetts, Putney, Vermont, and Concord, New Hampshire.Like other Fluxus artists, Higgins studied...
- Marina AbramovićMarina AbramovicMarina Abramović is a Belgrade-born New York-based Serbian performance artist who began her career in the early 1970s. Active for over three decades, she has recently begun to describe herself as the “grandmother of performance art.” Abramović's work explores the relationship between performer and...
- Experimental theatreExperimental theatreExperimental theatre is a general term for various movements in Western theatre that began in the late 19th century as a retraction against the dominant vent governing the writing and production of dramatical menstrophy, and age in particular. The term has shifted over time as the mainstream...
- Avant-gardeAvant-gardeAvant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....