Lillian Groag (born Liliana C. Groag) is an Argentine-American

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 ...

theater director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. Her plays include ''The Ladies of the Camellias'', ''The Magic Fire'', and '' The White Rose''.Lillian Groag – complete guide to the Playwright and Plays
/ref>

Early life and career

Lillian Groag was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, to a Viennese father and an Italian mother. Her father had fled to Argentina in 1938 when Austria joined Nazi Germany. When Lillian was only 7 years old her family fled from Argentina to

Montevideo, Uruguay Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, but this time they were fleeing from the

Juan Domingo Perón ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

dictatorship. Her father would die 7 years later in Uruguay. Lillian was schooled in Catholic boarding schools in both Argentina and Uruguay her entire life until she came to

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts inst ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, United States, and the University of Dijon in France. She would later go on to earn masters and doctoral degrees in Romance Languages and Literature from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. While attending both Lake Forest College and Northwestern she appeared in many plays. It was during her performance while at Northwestern in the play, "A Lion in Winter" that she was spotted by a Hollywood talent agent who persuaded her to move to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to pursue an acting career in TV and movies. She went on to have guest appearances on several TV shows before shifting her focus more to the theater and plays as well as writing.

Theater career

Miss Groag has acted, directed and written for many regional theatres in the country, Broadway and Off, as well as opera houses. Her plays have also had long runs in Germany, Italy, Mexico and Japan. In 1993, Groag acted as part of an ensemble cast in

The Kentucky Cycle ''The Kentucky Cycle'' is a series of nine one-act plays by Robert Schenkkan that explores American mythology, particularly the mythology of the West, through the intertwined histories of three fictional families struggling over a portion of land ...

at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and on Broadway at the Royale theatre. For this performance she received a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Performer in 1994. In 1997, Groag's play ''The Magic Fire'' premiered at the

Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and contemporary pla ...

. She received a Kennedy Center ''Fund for New American Plays'' (FNAP) to support this.1996 FNAP Grant Recipient-Lillian Garrett-Groag
/ref>

Works

Plays

''The Ladies of the Camellias'' is a

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

about an imagined meeting in Paris, 1897, between the famous theater divas

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camel ...

and

Eleonora Duse Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse ( , ; 3 October 185821 April 1924), often known simply as Duse, was an Italian actress, rated by many as the greatest of her time. She performed in many countries, notably in the plays of Gabriele d'Annunzio and Hen ...

. They are each to start in separate productions of ''The Lady of the Camellias'' on successive nights. ''The Magic Fire'' is a play about an immigrant family in

during the 1950s regime of

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...

. They take refuge from the fascist politics of Argentina in art and opera. Eventually, events force them to confront the politics and their moral obligations. Premiered in 1997 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Performed (among other times) in 2006 at the

Shaw Festival The Shaw Festival is a not-for-profit theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America. The Shaw Festival was founded in 1962. Originally, it only featured production ...

. '' The White Rose'' is a play about resistance by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

university students to

Hitler's Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, pivoting around a young student Sophie and a police inspector Mohr. ''Midons'', a play about the Troubadours in Provence and the "invention of love". A

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

-type farce with serious undertones. Produced by The

People's Light and Theatre Company People's Light is a professional, not-for-profit theatre in Chester County, Pennsylvania . About People's Light Founded in 1974, by Dick Keeler, Ken Marini, and Meg and Danny Fruchter, People's Light serves as one of Pennsylvania's largest prof ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. ''Menocchio'', a play about the famous real-life trial of miller Domenico Scandella in the

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giulia ...

region in 1600. Scandella propounded about evolution, socialism and doubted the existence of God. A comedy. Produced by the

Berkeley Repertory Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley. History The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident pr ...

. ''

Blood Wedding ''Blood Wedding'' ( es, link=no, Bodas de sangre) is a tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1932 and first performed at Teatro Beatriz in Madrid in March 1933, then later that year in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...

'', translated and adapted by Garrett-Groag from a Spanish play by

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

, is a play about a cycle of murder and revenge in an imagined setting in rural Spain. '' War Music'' (2009), based on

Christopher Logue Christopher Logue, CBE (23 November 1926 – 2 December 2011)Mark EspineObituary: Christopher Logue ''The Guardian'', 2 December 2011 was an English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival, and a pacifist. Life Born in Portsmouth, ...

's modernist rewrite of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

Translations and Adaptations

* ''A Flaw in the Ointment'' by Georges Feydeau. Performed in 1993-94 by the

Seattle Rep Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

. * ''The Triumph of Love'' by Pierre Marivaux. Adapted from a new translation by Frederick Kluck. Performed in 2007 by California Shakespeare Theater and San Jose Rep. * Blood Wedding - Garcia Lorca - Guthrie Theater * Liliom - Molnar - Missouri Rep

Productions directed

1993: "Tosca" (Puccini), Virginia Opera 1995: "La Boheme", Virginia Opera "SIMÓN BOLÍVAR" – World Premiere – January 1995 Virginia Opera. 1998: ''Scapin, the Cheat'', (Molière), California Shakespeare Theater. 2000: ''The Taming of the Shrew'', California Shakespeare Theater. 2003: ''Arms and the Man'' (Shaw), California Shakespeare Theater. 2005: ''The Tempest'', California Shakespeare Theater. 2007: ''The Triumph of Love'' (Marivaux), California Shakespeare Theater and San Jose Rep. The Rivals - A.C.T. in San Francisco A Flaw in the Ointment - Seattle Rep Menocchio - Berkeley Rep Napoli Milionaria and The Magic Fire - Milwaukee Rep Midons and The Imaginary Invalid - People's Light and Theatre Company, Philadelphia Enter the Guardsman and The Triumph of Love - San Jose Rep Death and the Maiden - Center Stage, Baltimore School for Scandal and Merry Wives of Windsor - at Oregon Shakespeare Festival Smash -

Asolo Repertory Theatre The Asolo Repertory Theatre or Asolo Rep (AKA: Asolo Theatre Company, Inc.) is a professional theater in Sarasota, Florida. It is the largest Equity theatre in Florida, and the largest Repertory theatre in the Southeastern United States. Asolo ...

Liliom - Missouri Rep OPERA - Virginia Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, Boston Lyric, Cincinnati, Chicago Opera Theatre, San Jose Opera, Florida Grand Opera. Representation: Beth Blickers, Abrams Artists Agency - New York / Robert Slotover - Allied Artists, U.K. 2010: "Cosi Fan Tutte", Virginia Opera 2013: "Marriage of Figaro" Virginia Opera

Awards

* 1994: Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Performer * 1996: Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays (FNAP) grant, for ''The Magic Fire'' at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. * AT&T American Plays - "The White Rose" * TCG - Playwright in Residence grant, Center Stage, Baltimore. "Menocchio".

References

External links

Doollee.com playwright entry for Lillian Groag
*
Agent's biography of Lillian Groag

Notes

Representation: Beth Blickers - Abrams Artists Agency New York/ Robert Slotover - Allied Artists U.K. {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett-Groag, Lillian American theatre directors Women theatre directors American women dramatists and playwrights American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Lake Forest College alumni Northwestern University alumni Argentine people of Austrian descent Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine emigrants to the United States American people of Austrian descent American writers of Italian descent American television actresses Actresses from Buenos Aires 1945 births 21st-century American women