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 1980. The group took its name in 1980; the independent productions of 1975–1980 are retroactively attributed to the group.^[1]

The Wooster Group

The Performing Garage in 2014
Formation	1975
Type	Theatre group
Location	New York City, New York, United States
Artistic director(s)	Elizabeth LeCompte
Website	thewoostergroup.org

The ensemble is directed by Elizabeth LeCompte and it launched the careers of many actors including founding member Willem Dafoe. The group's home is the Performing Garage at 33 Wooster Street between Grand and Broome Streets in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. As of 2014, the company consists of 16 members. In addition, there are 29 "Associates".^[2]

The Wooster Group is a not-for-profit theater company that relies on grants and donations from supporters. It has received multiple grants from the Carnegie Corporation. The group is characterized by its extremely experimental style, often incorporating aspects of audiovisual such as interactive video art, live stream, recorded sound, and pre-recorded video into their performance work. Their performances are often of classic texts like Brecht, Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Eugene O'Neill.^[3]

Past collaborators with the group include Ken Kobland, Jim Strahs, Richard Foreman, Trisha Brown, John Lurie, Bruce Odland, Jennifer Tipton, Frances McDormand, Hans Peter Kuhn, and Amir ElSaffar among others.^[4]

Founding members[5]

• Elizabeth LeCompte
• Willem Dafoe
• Jim Clayburgh
• Spalding Gray (d. 2004)
• Peyton Smith
• Kate Valk
• Ron Vawter (d. 1994)^[2]

Current company[5]

• Alexandre Artaud
• Mike Farry
• Ari Fliakos
• Clay Hapaz
• Cynthia Hedstrom
• Jonathan Hull
• Yudam Hyung Seok Jeon
• Elizabeth LeCompte
• Cynthia Hedstrom
• Bona Lee
• Andrew Maillet
• Tavish Miller
• Michaela Murphy
• Scott Shepherd
• Eric Sluyter
• Kate Valk
• Monika Wunderer

Awards and honors

The Wooster Group has won nine Obie Awards, six Bessie Awards, and the 1985 National Endowment for the Arts Ongoing Ensembles Grant.^[4]

Further reading

• Gordon, David (January 2020). "[Letter from SoHo] The Forty-Year Rehearsal – The Wooster Group's endless work in progress". Harper's. Vol. 340, no. 2036. New York, NY, US: Harper's Magazine Foundation. pp. 53–64. ISSN 0017-789X. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
• Quick, Andrew. The Wooster Group Workbook, London: Routledge, 2007. ISBN 978-0-415-35334-2
• Savran, David. Breaking the Rules: The Wooster Group. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1990. ISBN 0-930452-82-8

References

• Theatre portal
• New York City portal
• United States portal

1. Wooster Group, "Production History since 1975".
2. "Ron Vawter Papers, 1963-1994". New York Public Library. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
3. Schuessler, Jennifer (2016-09-28). "Elizabeth LeCompte of the Wooster Group Wins the Gish Prize". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
4. "History:Selected Awards" on the Wooster Group website
5. "About the Company:Founding and Original Members" on the Wooster Group website

External links

• Official website