Charles Marowitz (1932-2014)
Charles Marowitz, American-born theatre director, critic, and playwright, staged provocative, often experimental, theatre, notably as the cofounder (with Thelma Holt) of London’s avant-garde Open Space Theatre, where he served as the artistic director from 1968 until the theatre closed in 1980. His desire to flout theatrical conventions was most evident in his “collage” adaptations of classic plays by Shakespeare, and others in which he sought to unsettle audiences by imposing contemporary interpretations, shuffling the scene order, and/or reassigning speeches to different characters. While still in his teens, Marowitz began acting and contributing reviews to the Village Voice periodical.
After he completed his military service (based in France), he attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and settled in London. In the 1960s he worked closely with Peter Brook at the Royal Shakespeare Company Experimental Group (the Theatre of Cruelty) and directed West End premieres of such plays as Joe Orton’s "Loot" (1966/67). After the demise of the Open Space Theatre, Marowitz moved to Los Angeles, where he was associated with the Los Angeles Actors’ Theatre (1981–89) and was founding artistic director (1990–2002) of the Malibu Stage Company. Marowitz’s best-known play was arguably Sherlock’s Last Case, which was produced on Broadway in 1987 starring Frank Langella.
