Erwin Piscator's Influence on American Theatre in the 1940's, Focused on Tennessee Williams' Works

Abstract

After working in Berlin in the 1920's, the German theatre director Erwin Piscator went into exile to New York. There he spent the whole 1940's, and worked as a theatre director and director of the school “Dramatic Workshop.” His remarkable productions of that time include “War and Peace” (1942) based on Tolstoy's novel and including the role of a narrator and film projections. The aim of these features was to let the audience keep a distance from fictional events: The audience should observe them critically and think about the connection to real events in the contemporary world during the World War II.

This production surely inspired Tennessee Williams who just studied at the “Dramatic Workshop.” He probably watched Piscator's innovative performance and introduced the narrator and film projection for his highly successful piece “Glass Menagerie” (1944).

But Piscator was not satisfied by Williams' work, because it didn't seem to encourage the audience to a commitment to current political and social struggle. He declared his disappointment which motivated another student: the co-founder of the “Living Theatre”, Judith Malina. She pursued Piscator's practice for their productions which directly involved the audience and its real life.

However, Williams' attempt was influential. He refined the essence of Piscator's and surely contributed to American playwriting.