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Garland Wright: An analysis of his work as director and artistic director from 1970 to 1996
Abstract
This study is an analytical discussion of the professional theatrical work of Garland Wright in the first two and one-half decades of his career. During this period, Mr. Wright undertook a wide breadth of work as a director, and, in his capacity as artistic director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, exerted a substantial influence on the American theatrical landscape of the late twentieth century. Mr. Wright's directing career began at the American Shakespeare Theater in Connecticut, and included projects at major regional theaters around the country and in New York. As a co-founder of the Lion Theater Company in New York, Mr. Wright staged the Obie-award winning production of his own adaptation of Kafka, entitled K: Impressions of Franz Kafka's "The Trial," as well as Vanities, the longest running Off-Broadway non-musical in history. In addition to his large body of work with new plays, Mr. Wright also staged classical works from most of the major genres, including Shakespeare, Greek tragedy, Chekhov, and, especially, the French comedy of Moliere, Labiche, Musset, and Voltaire. As artistic director for the Guthrie Theater, Mr. Wright not only staged over thirty productions and oversaw over seventy, he also created management initiatives which would have a lasting impact on the Guthrie and the American theater. Mr. Wright established a permanent acting company, which allowed the theater to produce such challenging works as trilogies of Shakespearean and Greek plays. He also oversaw the successful completion of an unprecedented $25 million capital campaign which would provide financial security for the Guthrie Theater for years to come. Using Mr. Wright's "Principles of Leadership" as an organizational silhouette, this study analyzes chronologically his substantial body of work, and measures Wright's success as a director, artistic director, and executive officer.
Subject Area
Theater|Biographies
Recommended Citation
Woldt, Thomas Jay, "Garland Wright: An analysis of his work as director and artistic director from 1970 to 1996" (1996). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9700109.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9700109