The Group Theatre , a groundbreaking ensemble collective, started the careers of many top American theatre artists of the twentieth century and founded what became known as Method Acting. This book is the definitive history, based on over thirty years of research and interviews by the foremost theatre scholar of the time period, Helen Chinoy.
"Elicit[s] fresh insights and convey[s] the flavor of the company's lofty goals, day-to-day realities, and sometimes fractious interpersonal relationships to an extent not hitherto available . . . Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers." - CHOICE
"A comprehensive and informative look at The Group . . . I gladly recommend this new book to [people interested in The Group Theatre]." - Playbill.com
"Chinoy's impressive theory coheres to illustrate how the company strived to live up to the 'Group Idea'. the admirable but vague notion that theatre should lyrically speak to the range of cultural and political experiences of American life - an obsession that Chinoy calls a 'cautionary tale '. . . After all, it took a spectrum of experiences and values to build 'the most important experiment in American theatre'." - Theatre Survey
"The venerable Helen Krich Chinoy passed away prior to completing her work on the Group Theatre . . . But Don Wilmeth and Milly Barranger have done an admirable job with the monumental task of making certain that Chinoy's groundbreaking research saw the light of publication. The published result is . . . richly textured in its analysis and one where the author's voice is allowed to flow free." - Theatre Journal
"A comprehensive and informative look at The Group . . . I gladly recommend this new book to [people interested in The Group Theatre]." - Playbill.com
"Chinoy's impressive theory coheres to illustrate how the company strived to live up to the 'Group Idea'. the admirable but vague notion that theatre should lyrically speak to the range of cultural and political experiences of American life - an obsession that Chinoy calls a 'cautionary tale '. . . After all, it took a spectrum of experiences and values to build 'the most important experiment in American theatre'." - Theatre Survey
"The venerable Helen Krich Chinoy passed away prior to completing her work on the Group Theatre . . . But Don Wilmeth and Milly Barranger have done an admirable job with the monumental task of making certain that Chinoy's groundbreaking research saw the light of publication. The published result is . . . richly textured in its analysis and one where the author's voice is allowed to flow free." - Theatre Journal