Charles Marowitz (26 January 1934 – 2 May 2014) was an American

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, regular columnist on Swans Commentary. He collaborated with

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

at the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

, and later founded and directed The Open Space Theatre in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was also the co-founder of ''

Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers at the conclusion of a show or concert, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford Universi ...

'' magazine which was published between 1954 and 1965, and co-editor of ''The'' Encore ''Reader: A Chronicle of the New Drama'' (1965). He was a regular contributor to publications such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (London), '' TheaterWeek'', and '' American Theatre'' and was the lead critic on the ''

Los Angeles Herald-Examiner The ''Los Angeles Herald Examiner'' was a major Los Angeles daily newspaper, published in the afternoon from Monday to Friday and in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays. It was part of the Hearst syndicate. It was formed when the afternoon ' ...

'' until it ceased publication. The period as a critic in London was recorded in the book ''Confessions of a Counterfeit Critic'' (Eyre Methuen 1973). Its subtitle was ''A London Theatre Notebook 1958-1971''. He was the author of ''Murdering Marlowe'', which imagined a rivalry between

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...

. It was selected as a finalist for the

GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

of 2002. He was author the 1987

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

play '' Sherlock's Last Case'' with

Frank Langella Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American actor. He eschewed the career of a traditional film star by making the stage the focal point of his career, appearing frequently on Broadway. He has received four Tony Awards (out of ...

in the lead role.

Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born June 2, 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is ...

"Stage: Langella In 'Sherlock's Last.' "
''

'', August 21, 1987, accessed October 11, 2007. His free adaptations of Shakespeare were collected in ''The Marowitz Shakespeare''. He died of complications from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

in 2014 at the age of 80.Elaine Wo
"Charles Marowitz, playwright, director and critic, dies at 80"
''Los Angeles Times'', 6 May 2014

Selected bibliography

*Marowitz, Charles (1977). ''

Artaud Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (; ; 4September 18964March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely ...

at Rodez''. London: Marion Boyars. . *Marowitz, Charles, ed. and trans. (2000). ''The Marowitz Shakespeare: Adaptions and Collages of Hamlet, MacBeth, the Taming of the Shrew, Measure for Measure, and the Merchant of Venice''. London: Marion Boyars. . *–––, Tom Milne, and Owen Hale, eds. (1981). ''The Encore Reader: A Chronicle of the New Drama''. London: Methuen, 1965. Reissued as ''New Theatre Voices of the Fifties and Sixties''. London: Eyre Methuen. *Trussler, Simon (2014). Charles Marowitz in London: Twenty-Five Years Hard: Marowitz in the Sixties. New Theatre Quarterly, 30:3, p. 203–206

References

External links

Charles Marowitz Papers
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...

"Biography: Charles Marowitz"
on ''Marowitz Theatre''. *

– Contributor page at Swans.com. *

' Marowitz's website. 1934 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Place of birth missing Place of death missing {{US-dramatist-stub