Eric Russell Bentley (September 14, 1916 – August 5, 2020) was a British-born American theater critic,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, singer, editor, and translator. In 1998, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the New York Theater Hall of Fame, recognizing his many years of cabaret performances.

Biography

Bentley was born in Bolton, Lancashire, the son of Laura Evelyn and Fred Bentley. Bentley attended

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

, where his tutors were

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

and

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

; he received his degree in English in 1938. He subsequently attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

( B. Litt. in 1939 and PhD in 1941), where he received the

John Addison Porter John Addison Porter (March 15, 1822 – August 25, 1866) was an American professor of chemistry and physician. He is the namesake of the John Addison Porter Prize and was a founder of the Scroll and Key senior society of Yale University. Acad ...

Prize. Bentley taught History and Drama during the 1942 summer session at

Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The college was ideologically organized around John Dewey's educational ...

, as well as from 1943 to 1944. Beginning in 1953, he taught at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and was a theatre critic for ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

''. He became known for his blunt style of theatre criticism, and was threatened with lawsuits from both

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

and

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...

for his unfavorable reviews of their work. From 1960 to 1961, Bentley was the

Charles Eliot Norton Charles Eliot Norton (November 16, 1827 – October 21, 1908) was an American author, social critic, and Harvard professor of art based in New England. He was a progressive social reformer and a liberal activist whom many of his contemporaries c ...

Professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Bentley was one of the preeminent experts on

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

, whom he met at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

as a young man and whose work he translated extensively. He edited the

Grove Press Grove Press is an United States of America, American Imprint (trade name), publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it in ...

issue of Brecht's work, and recorded two albums of Brecht's songs for

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

, most of which had never before been recorded in English. In 1968, he signed the

Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse of ...

pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. His play ''The Red, White, and Black'' was produced at

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

in 1971 in collaboration with the

Columbia University School of the Arts The Columbia University School of the Arts, (also known as School of the Arts or SoA) is the fine arts graduate school of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York. It offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, Visual Arts, ...

Theatre Division. Beginning in 1975,

Andrei Serban Andrei Șerban (born June 21, 1943) is a Romanian-American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings. In 1992 he became Professor of Theater at the ...

directed multiple productions of Bentley's translation of Brecht's '' Good Woman of Setzuan'' at La MaMa, with music by

Elizabeth Swados Elizabeth Swados (February 5, 1951 – January 5, 2016) was an American writer, composer, musician, and theatre director. Swados received Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Origin ...

. The 1975 production was followed by a production in 1976 and another production in 1978. The

Great Jones Repertory Company The Great Jones Repertory Company is the Repertory Company of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. The company is named after Great Jones Street, where La MaMa's rehearsal building is located. As des ...

also took the show on tour to Europe in 1976. Bentley was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1969. That same year, he made his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

public. In an interview in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on November 12, 2006, he said he was married twice before coming out at age 53, at which time he left his position as the

Brander Matthews James Brander Matthews (February 21, 1852 – March 31, 1929) was an American academic, writer and literary critic. He was the first full-time professor of dramatic literature at Columbia University in New York and played a significant role in est ...

Professor of Dramatic Literature at Columbia to concentrate on his writing. He cited his homosexuality as an influence on his theater work, especially his play ''Lord Alfred's Lover'', based on the life of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

. He won an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre from the

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

in 2006 and a

Robert Chesley Award The Robert Chesley Award was an annual literary award, presented by Publishing Triangle to honour drama works by playwrights in the LGBT community. First presented in 1994, the award was named in memory of playwright Robert Chesley. The award was di ...

in 2007. Bentley became an

American citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

in 1948 and had been living in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for many years at the time of his death. He turned 100 on September 14, 2016. Bentley died at his home in Manhattan on August 5, 2020, at the age of 103.

Selected works

He wrote numerous books of theatre criticism. In addition, he edited ''The Importance of Scrutiny'' (1964), a collection from '' Scrutiny: A Quarterly Review'', and ''Thirty Years of Treason: Excerpts from Hearings Before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, 1938–1968'' (1971). His most-produced play, ''Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been: The Investigations of Show-Business by the Un-American Activities Committee 1947–1958'' (1972), was based on the transcripts from the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

collected in ''Thirty Years of Treason''.

Books (theatre criticism)

* 1944: ''A Century of Hero Worship'' * 1946: ''The Playwright As Thinker'' * 1947: ''Bernard Shaw'' * 1948: ''The Modern Theatre'' * 1953: ''In Search of Theater'' * 1956: ''What Is Theatre?'' * 1964: ''The Life of the Drama'' * 1971: ''Thirty Years of Treason'' * 1972: ''Theater of War'' * 1981: ''Brecht Commentaries'' * 1987: ''Thinking About The Playwright''

Plays

*1967: ''A Time To Live & A Time To Die'' (published by

Broadway Play Publishing Inc. Broadway Play Publishing Inc (BPPI) was established in New York City in 1982 to publish and license the stage performance rights of contemporary American plays. The Broadway Play Publishing Inc catalog consists of over 1,000 plays and nearly 400 ...

) *1972: ''Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been: The Investigations of Show-Business by the Un-American Activities Committee 1947–1958'' *1979: ''Lord Alfred's Lover'' (collected in ''Monstrous Martyrdoms'', 1985) *1979: ''Wannsee, a Tragi-Comedy'' (published in

The Massachusetts Review ''The Massachusetts Review'' is a literary quarterly founded in 1959 by a group of professors from Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It receives financial support from Five Col ...

Vol. 20, No. 3) *1985: ''H for Hamlet'' *''German Requiem'' (collected in ''Monstrous Martyrdoms'', 1985) *''Round One'' (published by

) *''Round Two'' (published by

) *"The Sternheim Trilogy" containing ''The Underpants'', ''The Snob'', & ''1913'' (published by

)

Discography

The following are recordings done by Bentley for

. *1961: "

before the

Committee on Un-American Activities The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

: An Historical Encounter" *1963: "''

A Man's A Man ''Man Equals Man'' (german: Mann ist Mann), or A Man's a Man, is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. One of Brecht's earlier works, it explores themes of war, human fungibility, and identity. One of the agitprop works insp ...

'' by

" *1964: "Songs of

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...

" *1965: "Bentley on Brecht: Songs and Poems of

" *1965: "Bertolt Brecht's ''

The Exception and the Rule ''The Exception and the Rule'' (in German ''Die Ausnahme und die Regel'') is a short play by German playwright Bertolt Brecht and is one of several ''Lehrstücke'' (Teaching plays) he wrote around 1929/30. The objective of Brecht's Lehrstücke w ...

''" *1968: "'' The Elephant Calf'' and Small Comments on Large Themes" *1968: "Bentley on Biermann: Songs and Poems of

Wolf Biermann Karl Wolf Biermann (; born 15 November 1936) is a German singer-songwriter, poet, and former East German dissident. He is perhaps best known for the 1968 song "Ermutigung" and his expatriation from East Germany in 1976. Early life Biermann was b ...

" *1970: "Eric Bentley Sings The Queen of 42nd Street"

References

External links

"Columbia fetes American theater legend Eric Bentley"Bentley discography on Folkways RecordsEric Bentley singing "Ballad on the Poet François Villon"Bentley's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Eric 1916 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American centenarians American male dramatists and playwrights American male non-fiction writers American tax resisters American theater critics Black Mountain College faculty Columbia University faculty English centenarians English emigrants to the United States Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Gay academics British gay writers Harvard University faculty LGBT dramatists and playwrights LGBT writers from England American gay writers Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Men centenarians People from Bolton Writers from New York City Yale University alumni Alumni of University College, Oxford