Marianne de Pury (born 3 April 1935) is a Swiss theatre artist and composer born in

St. Gallen, Switzerland , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

. She is best known as the musical composer of two 1966 anti-war plays, Jean-Claude van Itallie's social satire ''

America Hurrah ''America Hurrah'' is a satirical play by Jean-Claude van Itallie, which premiered at the Pocket Theatre in New York City on November 7, 1966. Directed by Jacques Levy and Joseph Chaikin, the play was an early expression of the burgeoning 1960s ...

'' and

Megan Terry Megan Terry (born July 22, 1932) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and theatre artist. She has produced over fifty works for theater, radio, and television, and is best known for her avant-garde theatrical work from the 1960s. As a found ...

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and conc ...

Viet Rock ''Viet Rock'' is a rock musical by Megan Terry that served as inspiration to the musical ''Hair''. A violent denunciation of the American involvement in the Vietnam War, the play was described by its author as a "folk war movie" comprising scenes ...

''. De Pury studied piano and composition at the

Conservatoire de Musique de Genève A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

. She enjoyed the performing arts from a young age and, as a teen, she made frequent trips to Paris to see theatre. Later she moved to New York City, where she studied as an apprentice under the

Open Theatre The Open Theater was an experimental theatre group active from 1963 to 1973. Foundation The Open Theater was founded in New York City by a group of former students of acting teacher Nola Chilton, together with director Joseph Chaikin (formerly of ...

's director

Joseph Chaikin Joseph Chaikin (September 16, 1935 – June 22, 2003) was an American theatre director, actor, playwright, and pedagogue. Early life and education The youngest of five children, Chaikin was born to a poor Jewish family living in the Borough Pa ...

. There she forged connections with artists active in New York's avant-garde theatre scene as well as the Black Panther Party. In 1965 she began a collaborative project with playwright and director Megan Terry who was working on a devised performance piece for the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club protesting the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. Their ensemble improvisations at the Open Theatre laboratory resulted in ''

,'' widely recognized as the first rock musical written and produced in the United States. De Pury followed the production as an accompanist when it premiered at the

Yale Repertory Theatre Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented stude ...

in 1966 and later transferred to the Off-Broadway Martinique Theatre on 10 November 1966. During her time in the United States, de Pury also served as composer-in-residence for the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

and worked as a translator for the French playwright Jean Genet. De Pury is founder of the Santa Fe Ensemble Theatre in New Mexico and has directed free-lance productions in Basel, Bern, Bonn, Dublin, Sarajevo, Melbourne, New York and Cameroun. Upon returning to Switzerland, she became the administrative director of the Theatre de Carouge, a three-stage performing space in Geneva, Switzerland.

References

External links

* Listings concerning Marianne de Pury
Kent State University Special Collections and Archives
* Catalogue of Marianne de Puty's Letters with Joseph Chaikin and Jean Genet

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pury, Marianne de 1935 births Living people

Marianne Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed in ...

Swiss theatre directors People from St. Gallen (city) Yale School of Drama people