The Performance Group (TPG) was an

experimental theater Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu plays as a rejection of both the age in particular ...

troupe that

Richard Schechner Richard Schechner is University Professor Emeritus at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, and editor of ''TDR: The Drama Review''. Biography Richard Schechner received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1956, ...

founded in 1967 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. TPG's home base was the Performing Garage in the

SoHo SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

district of

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

. After 1975, tensions led to Schechner's resignation in 1980. The troupe reinvented itself as

The Wooster Group The Wooster Group is an experimental theater company based in New York City known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group (1967–1980) during the period from 1975 to 198 ...

under the leadership of director and theatre artist

Elizabeth LeCompte Elizabeth LeCompte (born April 28, 1944) is an American director of experimental theater, dance, and media. A founding member of The Wooster Group, she has directed that ensemble since its emergence in the late 1970s.Mitter, Shomit, and Maria Sh ...

History

TPG was an "environmental theatre" – meaning that each production took place in an entirely redesigned space. Most of TPG's productions were directed by Schechner, though others including Joan MacIntosh, Stephen Borst, James Griffiths, Leeny Sack,

, and

Spalding Gray Spalding Gray (June 5, 1941 – ) was an American actor, novelist, playwright, screenwriter and performance artist. He is best known for the autobiographical monologues that he wrote and performed for the theater in the 1980s and 1990s, as well ...

either directed their own works or works by others. TPG's designers included Jerry Rojo, Michael Kirby, and Jim Clayburgh. Some of TPG's productions were collages of various texts, other productions were radical deconstructions of classics, and some works were brand new. Schechner resigned as artistic director in 1980. At that time, Elizabeth LeCompte became the artistic director of the company which was renamed

and continued to operate out of the Performing Garage.

Productions

Many TPG works premiered and then were modified over several years. TPG's major works are (unless otherwise noted, productions were directed by Schechner): '' Dionysus in 69'' (1968), based on

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

' ''

The Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; , ''Bakkhai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumou ...

'', text by Schechner based on group improvisations; ''Makbeth'' (1969), (based on

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 natio ...

), text devised by Schechner; ''Commune'' (1970), a group devised work with the text arranged by Schechner and the company, which won Joan MacIntosh an OBIE for Distinguished Performance in 1970; ''The Tooth of Crime'' (1972) by

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

; ''

Mother Courage and Her Children ''Mother Courage and Her Children'' () is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin. Four theatrical productions were produced in Switzerland and ...

'' (1975) by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

; ''The Marilyn Project'' (1975), by David Gaard); ''

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. ...

'' (1977) by Seneca; ''Cops'' (1978) by Terry Curtis Fox; ''The Survivor and the Translator'' (1978) performed and directed by Leeny Sack; ''The Balcony'' (1979) by

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

. In 1975, some members began to develop their own productions, led by

and

. The trilogy (Three Places in Rhode Island) was performed in the Performing Garage but was not attributed to TPG. Performances include ''Sakonnet Point'' (1975), ''Rumstick Road'' (1978), ''Nyatt School'' (1978), and ''Point Judith (an epilogue)'' (1979). Eventually this divide led to the change in organization that created

References

External links

''Dionysus in '69''
A 1970 film by Brian De Palma that records a performance of The Performance Group's stage play of the same name.
The Rude Mechanicals' ''Dionysus in 69''
A site documenting the first-ever remounting of TPG's original play in 2011 at Princeton's Lewis Center for the Arts. {{DEFAULTSORT:Performance Group, The Performing groups established in 1967 Performance art in New York City Defunct theatre companies in New York City

History

Productions

References

Further reading

External links