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Mary Hunter Wolf: Director, producer, educator. Building communities through theatre
Abstract
Over the course of seventy years, Mary Hunter Wolf (1904-) worked in theatre from venues as diverse as historical pageants to Broadway productions, from silent film to television's color spectaculars, and from politics to the classroom. Regardless of the medium, she strove always to foster a sense of community in which both the genius of the art and the artist could grow. Significant work in Mary Hunter Wolf's theatre career includes her directorship of the American Actors Company, her acclaimed productions of Sartre's plays, and her participation in and support of the work of Agnes de Mille, Katherine Dunham, and Jerome Robbins in developing the dance elements of American musical theatre. She encouraged American artists to seek within their own regional cultures the wealth of stories and music on which they might build their creations. For the artistic community, Mary Hunter Wolf worked to improve the training and welfare of artists. She cofounded the American Theatre Wing Professional Training Program, where students cross-trained in all the performing arts. She played a leadership role in the development of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. After a ten-year hiatus during which she married a widower and helped raise three children, Mary Hunter Wolf wove together all of her training and experiences into developing a unique educational program, The Center for Theatre Techniques in Education, which she founded in 1970. Combining the acting theories of Stanislavski and theatrical directing practices, she has sought to change the school experience to one in which a learning community nurtures all children to their fullest potential as members of a diversified society. The Center has brought about changes in the assessment of gifted children, the design of arts magnet programs, and in teacher training. The impact of gender can been seen throughout Mary Hunter Wolf's life both in the options available to her and on her choices. As a woman in theatre, she chose to create a web that fosters community through the arts.
Subject Area
Theater|Womens studies|Biographies|Education history|Art education
Recommended Citation
Compton, Tamara L, "Mary Hunter Wolf: Director, producer, educator. Building communities through theatre" (1992). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9314396.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9314396