A New Theatre

by Tyrone Guthrie, Joe Dowling (Foreword)

 “A New Theatre should attract an audience far greater than just the theater world; in fact, it should be of interest to everyone in search of a book that is readable, keenly observant, and witty.” —New York Times “Guthrie’s writing as usual is fresh, witty, sometimes caustic, and always invigorating.” —Library Journal After a long and storied career as one of Britain’s great stage directors, Sir Tyrone Guthrie had become disillusioned with the artistic standards and financial compromises found in the commercial theater of Broadway and London’s West End. He discovered that outside of New York most of America did not have access to professional theater. To remedy this problem Guthrie and his colleagues proposed starting a nonprofit, repertory theater company in a city far removed from Broadway. Scouting and pitching his idea to several major U.S. cities, Guthrie finally found a home for his theater in Minneapolis. A New Theatre chronicles how a coalition of local Minneapolis businesses and philanthropic leaders worked with Guthrie to create the Guthrie Theatre in the early 1960s. In his amusing and personable style, Guthrie welcomes readers on a tour of one of the most dynamic young theatrical institutions in the world, exploring its years of planning, Ralph Rapson’s design of the original building and the thrust stage, the first productions and their receptions, as well as discussing his larger views of theater’s future and its role in society. Sir Tyrone Guthrie (1900-1971) was managing director of the Old Vic and Sadler’s Wells and helped found the Stratford Festival of Canada and the Guthrie Theater in Minnesota. Joe Dowling is Artistic Director for the Guthrie Theater.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Sir William Tyrone Guthrie was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at his family's ancestral home, Annaghmakerrig, near Newbliss in County Monaghan, Ireland. He is famous for his original approach to Shakespearean and modern drama.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am very impressed with Guthrie's thoughts and reflections on theatre in general.

"Great drama," he writes, "always adds... some philosophical comment or allegorical overtone, not necessarily -- or even frequently -- with a conscious didactic purpose, but always with didactic possibilities."

Twice he defines "drama," both accurate and succinct. "Drama is...the re-creation by actors of a group of persons and a series of events." And, "Drama is the telling of a story in the most vivid possible manner."

And here he seems to put his finger on what is precisely right...and wrong...with theatre today (the today of forty years ago and still the today of now):"The theatre exists to entertain. Entertainment can be educative; but it is a regrettable fallacy that a serious theatre must be consciously instructive. The fallacy has been fostered by theatre people, because we have learnt, by bitter experience, that public bodies will give you funds if they can be persuaded that you aim to Educate. But if, more truthfully, you admit that your first aim is to Entertain then you won't get a cent."

This certainly hasn't changed one iota. In fact, as the arts continue to struggle to survive, the "education factor" for each project seems more and more vital. When do we get to play?

Guthrie wraps up his book with this thought:"The three greatest periods in the history of the theatre -- the Athenian stage of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides; the Elizabethan stage in England which produced Marlowe, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and half a dozen lesser but significant poets; the French stage of Racine, Corneille and Moliere -- all these could not have happened if the writers, actors and craftsmen had not been fortunate enough to live in an age and place where a highly intelligent, lively and demanding audience had helped to create a theatre which was far more than a commercial business and far more than a frivolous pastime. Neither the artists and craftsmen nor the audience can do this alone. It is a shared process of creation, a fruitful union."

I'm not sure that this has been recognized or acknowledged any better than the way Guthrie puts it in this book. It is certainly food for thought for those of us who look to produce Art. We can only do so much without a cooperative audience.

[Michael DeWhatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spirited account of one of the more interesting beginnings to a regional theatre, Guthrie's book was both relevant in some ways to today, but simultaneously peppered with inaccurate predictions about the future. The parts of the book that focused on the how and why a regional theatre was established in Minneapolis in the early 1960s was fascinating, and I wished the book had embraced that aspect of the story that it was telling. Guthrie's tendency to wax philosophical left me impatient for the next part of the story of the building of the theatre, which often wasn't soon in arriving. That being said, it's an absolute gem for anyone interested in America's cultural legacy and I wish more books like it existed.