Lillian Groag (born Liliana C. Groag) is an Argentine-American

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 ...

theater 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

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. Her plays include ''The Ladies of the Camellias'', ''The Magic Fire'', and '' The White Rose''.Lillian Groag – complete guide to the Playwright and Plays
/ref>

Early life and career

Lillian Groag was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, to a Viennese father and an Italian mother. Her father had fled to Argentina in 1938 when Austria joined Nazi Germany. When Lillian was only 7 years old her family fled from Argentina to

Montevideo, Uruguay Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern coa ...

, but this time they were fleeing from the

Juan Domingo Perón ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philip ...

dictatorship. Her father would die 7 years later in Uruguay. Lillian was schooled in Catholic boarding schools in both

and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

her entire life until she came to

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducatio ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States, and the

University of Dijon A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in France. She would later go on to earn masters and doctoral degrees in Romance Languages and Literature from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. While attending both Lake Forest College and Northwestern she appeared in many plays. It was during her performance while at Northwestern in the play, "A Lion in Winter" that she was spotted by a Hollywood talent agent who persuaded her to move to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to pursue an acting career in TV and movies. She went on to have guest appearances on several TV shows before shifting her focus more to the theater and plays as well as writing.

Theater career

Miss Groag has acted, directed and written for many regional theatres in the country, Broadway and Off, as well as opera houses. Her plays have also had long runs in Germany, Italy, Mexico and Japan. In 1993, Groag acted as part of an ensemble cast in

The Kentucky Cycle ''The Kentucky Cycle'' is a series of nine one-act plays by Robert Schenkkan that explores American mythology, particularly the mythology of the West, through the intertwined histories of three fictional families struggling over a portion of l ...

at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and on Broadway at the Royale theatre. For this performance she received a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Performer in 1994. In 1997, Groag's play ''The Magic Fire'' premiered at the

Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional Repertory, repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and conte ...

. She received a Kennedy Center ''Fund for New American Plays'' (FNAP) to support this.1996 FNAP Grant Recipient-Lillian Garrett-Groag
/ref>

Works

Plays

''The Ladies of the Camellias'' is a

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...

about an imagined meeting in Paris, 1897, between the famous theater divas

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

and

Eleonora Duse Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse ( , ; 3 October 185821 April 1924), often known simply as Duse, was an Italian actress, rated by many as the greatest of her time. She performed in many countries, notably in the plays of Gabriele D'Annunzio and Henr ...

. They are each to start in separate productions of ''The Lady of the Camellias'' on successive nights. ''The Magic Fire'' is a play about an immigrant family in

during the 1950s regime of

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

. They take refuge from the fascist politics of Argentina in art and opera. Eventually, events force them to confront the politics and their moral obligations. Premiered in 1997 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Performed (among other times) in 2006 at the

Shaw Festival The Shaw Festival is a Charitable organization, Charitable theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America, second only to Canada's Strat ...

. '' The White Rose'' is a play about resistance by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

university students to Hitler's

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, pivoting around a young student Sophie and a police inspector Mohr. ''Midons'', a play about the Troubadours in Provence and the "invention of love". A

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

-type farce with serious undertones. Produced by The

People's Light and Theatre Company People's Light and Theatre Company is a professional non-profit theatre company in Malvern, Pennsylvania. History People's Light, a professional non-profit theatre company, was founded in 1973 by Dick Keeler, Ken Marini, and Megan and Danny Fr ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. ''Menocchio'', a play about the famous real-life trial of miller Domenico Scandella in the

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

region in 1600. Scandella propounded about evolution, socialism and doubted the existence of God. A comedy. Produced by the

Berkeley Repertory Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a Regional theater in the United States, regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley, California, Downtown Berkeley. Histor ...

. ''

Blood Wedding ''Blood Wedding'' () is a tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1932 and first performed at Teatro Beatriz in Madrid in March 1933, then later that year in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The play is set in rural Spa ...

'', translated and adapted by Garrett-Groag from a Spanish play by

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

, is a play about a cycle of murder and revenge in an imagined setting in rural Spain. '' War Music'' (2009), based on

Christopher Logue Christopher Logue, CBE (23 November 1926 – 2 December 2011)Mark EspineObituary: Christopher Logue ''The Guardian'', 2 December 2011 was an English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival, and a pacifist. Life Born in Portsmouth, ...

's modernist rewrite of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

Translations and Adaptations

* ''A Flaw in the Ointment'' by Georges Feydeau. Performed in 1993–94 by the Seattle Rep. * ''The Triumph of Love'' by Pierre Marivaux. Adapted from a new translation by Frederick Kluck. Performed in 2007 by California Shakespeare Theater and San Jose Rep. * Blood Wedding - Garcia Lorca - Guthrie Theater * Liliom - Molnar - Missouri Rep

Productions directed

1993: "Tosca" (Puccini), Virginia Opera 1995: "La Boheme", Virginia Opera "SIMÓN BOLÍVAR" – World Premiere – January 1995 Virginia Opera. 1998: ''Scapin, the Cheat'', (Molière), California Shakespeare Theater. 2000: ''The Taming of the Shrew'', California Shakespeare Theater. 2003: ''Arms and the Man'' (Shaw), California Shakespeare Theater. 2005: ''The Tempest'', California Shakespeare Theater. 2007: ''The Triumph of Love'' (Marivaux), California Shakespeare Theater and San Jose Rep. The Rivals - A.C.T. in San Francisco A Flaw in the Ointment - Seattle Rep Menocchio - Berkeley Rep Napoli Milionaria and The Magic Fire - Milwaukee Rep Midons and The Imaginary Invalid - People's Light and Theatre Company, Philadelphia Enter the Guardsman and The Triumph of Love - San Jose Rep Death and the Maiden - Center Stage, Baltimore School for Scandal and Merry Wives of Windsor - at Oregon Shakespeare Festival Smash -

Asolo Repertory Theatre The Asolo Repertory Theatre or Asolo Rep (AKA: Asolo Theatre Company, Inc.) is a professional theater in Sarasota, Florida. It is the largest Equity theatre in Florida, and the largest Repertory theatre in the Southeastern United States. Asolo ...

Liliom - Missouri Rep OPERA - Virginia Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, Boston Lyric, Cincinnati, Chicago Opera Theatre, San Jose Opera, Florida Grand Opera. Representation: Beth Blickers, Abrams Artists Agency - New York / Robert Slotover - Allied Artists, U.K. 2010: "Cosi Fan Tutte", Virginia Opera 2013: "Marriage of Figaro" Virginia Opera

Awards

* 1994: Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Performer * 1996: Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays (FNAP) grant, for ''The Magic Fire'' at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. * AT&T American Plays - "The White Rose" * TCG - Playwright in Residence grant, Center Stage, Baltimore. "Menocchio".

References

External links

Doollee.com playwright entry for Lillian Groag
*
Agent's biography of Lillian Groag

Notes

Representation: Beth Blickers - Abrams Artists Agency New York/ Robert Slotover - Allied Artists U.K. {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett-Groag, Lillian American theatre directors American women theatre directors American women dramatists and playwrights Argentine theatre directors Argentine women theatre directors Argentine women dramatists and playwrights American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Lake Forest College alumni Northwestern University alumni Argentine people of Austrian descent Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine emigrants to the United States American people of Austrian descent American writers of Italian descent American television actresses Actresses from Buenos Aires 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)