Martha Clarke (born June 3, 1944) is an American theater director and choreographer noted for her multidisciplinary approach to theatre, dance, and opera productions. Her best-known original work is ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' (1984, re-imagined 2008), an exploration in theatre, dance, music and flying of the famous
painting of the same name by
Hieronymus Bosch. In 1990, Clarke received a
MacArthur Award
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...
, better known as the Genius Grant.
Training and early career
Born into a German-Jewish family of musicians in Pikesville, Md. in suburban
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
, she studied dance with Carol Lynn and Dale Sehnert in the preparatory program of the
Peabody Conservatory, going on to study at the dance program of the
Juilliard School under
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor (born William Cook; 4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer. He founded the London Ballet, and later the Philadelphia Ballet Guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-1950 ...
and
Anna Sokolow.
She then spent three years performing with the
modern dance choreographer
Anna Sokolow and the
Dance Theater Workshop. She later became a founding member of
Pilobolus Dance Theatre
Pilobolus is an American modern dance company that began performing in October 1971. Pilobolus has performed over 100 choreographic works in more than 64 countries around the world, and has been featured on the 79th Annual Academy Awards, ''Th ...
and Crowsnest before going on to a highly original career as a
director/choreographer.
Theatre, dance and opera career
As a director, Martha Clarke’s many original productions include ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' (with musical score by
Richard Peaslee Richard Peaslee (June 13, 1930, New York NY – August 20, 2016) was a composer who worked in a variety of idioms, including chorus, orchestra, dance, and soundtracks for film and television, but he was most active as a composer for the theatre.
Ed ...
), ''Vienna: Lusthaus''
''Miracolo d’Amore'', ''Endangered Species'', ''An Uncertain Hour'', ''The Hunger Artist'', ''Vers la Flamme and Chéri''.
She directed the premiere of
Christopher Hampton
Sir Christopher James Hampton ( Horta, Azores, 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the novel of the same name and the film ...
’s ''Alice’s Adventures Underground'' at the
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
in
London. ''Angel Reapers'' (with text by
Alfred Uhry – Pulitzer Prize for ''
Driving Miss Daisy
'' Driving Miss Daisy'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on his 1987 play of the same name. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his ...
'') had its New York premiere at the
Joyce Theater November 29 – December 11, 2011. She created the full-evening work ''L’altra metá del cielo'' spring 2012 at
La Scala
La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...
Opera in Milan, Italy. Her original productions have been presented at
The Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theater,
New York Theatre Workshop
__NOTOC__
New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 4th Street (Manhattan), East 4th Street between Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue and Bowery in the East Village, ...
,
Signature Theatre Company
Signature Theatre Company is an American theatre based in Manhattan, New York. It was founded in 1991 by James Houghton and is now led by Artistic Director Paige Evans. Signature is known for their season-long focus on one artist's work. It has be ...
and The
Kennedy Center among others.
From June 12 - July 2, 2022, Ms. Clarke's latest multidisciplinary theatre wor
''God's Fool''was presented at
La MaMa in New York City. A song cycle, ''God's Fool'' incorporates an a cappella score performed live, derived from music spanning a period of 800 years.
In dance, she has choreographed for the
Nederlands Dans Theater, the
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies and training institutions in the world today. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at Lyric O ...
,
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...
,
Rambert Dance Company, and The
Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.
Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...
Company, among others.
In opera, Clarke has directed Mozart's
The Magic Flute for the
Glimmerglass Opera and the
Canadian Opera Company,
Cosi fan tutte for Glimmerglass,
Tan Dun’s ''Marco Polo'' for the
Munich Biennale, the Hong-Kong Festival, and the
New York City Opera, and
Gluck’s ''Orfeo and Euridice'' for the
English National Opera and the New York City Opera.
She directed Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the
American Repertory Theater and a music/theater work, ''Belle Epoque'', based on the life of
Toulouse-Lautrec at
Lincoln Center Theater.
She has collaborated with playwrights
Richard Greenberg,
Charles L. Mee
Charles L. Mee (born September 15, 1938) is an American playwright, historian and author known for his collage-like style of playwriting, which makes use of radical reconstructions of found texts. He is also a Special Lecturer of theater at Colu ...
, and
Alfred Uhry.
While Clarke does not compose the musical scores or texts (when present) for her original works, she is engaged in all aspects of production and direction, from conception and structure to details of music, text, lighting, and costumes. Britannica Online summarizes her choreographic approach in saying that her "emotionally evocative work draws extensively on theatrical elements."
Clarke's work mostly draws inspiration from the visual arts, especially painting. In this preoccupation, Clarke can be associated with such disparate artists as
Peter Sellars,
Pina Bausch, and
Robert Wilson.
New York Times critic
Michael Kimmelman wrote of her ''Miracolo d'Amore'' in 1988 that it "... can be counted among the recent opera productions, films and theatrical presentations that in one way or another emulate painting.
Franco Zeffirelli,
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...
,
Pina Bausch,
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
,
Robert Wilson and
Peter Sellars share with Clarke this striking characteristic: They view the performing arts as a pretext for staging visual spectaculars."
In June 2007, a version of ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' show opened the 30th anniversary of the
American Dance Festival. On November 19, 2008, the re-imagined ''Garden of Earthly Delights'' opened Off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theater in New York City and ran until April 5, 2009.
In 2011, Clarke created ''Angel Reapers'', in a collaboration with Pulitzer prize-winner
Alfred Uhry. It ran at the
Signature Theatre Company (New York City) from February 2, 2016 - March 20, 2016. This production won two
Lucille Lortel Awards for "Outstanding Alternative Theatrical Experience" and for "Outstanding Choreography". ''Angel Reapers'' also toured New England with performances at The Joyce Theater in 2011.
Personal life
Clarke was married to sculptor
Philip Grausman
Philip Grausman (born July 16, 1935) is an American sculptor who continues to push the limits of the time-honored portrait in art.
Life and career
Grausman's early work focused on natural forms representing buds and seeds, and this exploration l ...
and has one son - jazz musician and actor David Grausman.
Honors and recognition
Clarke received several awards including a
MacArthur Award
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...
(1990), Joe A. Callaway choreography award (2009), ''Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement'' (2010),
Dance Magazine Award (2013) and two Joe A. Callaway choreography awards (2009 and 2014). She is the only recipient in the SDC Joe A. Callaway award's history to receive two awards for choreography.
In addition to the
MacArthur Award
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...
, Clarke has received two grants from the
Guggenheim Foundation as well as fifteen grants from the
NEA. She has received the
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...
, two
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 ...
s, and 1985 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.
In 2016, Clarke won two
Lucille Lortel Awards for ''Angel Reapers'': one for "Outstanding Choreography" and another with collaborator
Alfred Uhry for "Outstanding Alternative Theatrical Experience". In July 2019, Clarke received the Flora Roberts Award, administered by the Dramatists Guild Foundation.
She was the subject of the film Martha Clarke: Light and Dark for
PBS, and her ''Garden of Earthly Delights'' has been filmed by the
BBC.
''Kaos'', adapted from stories by
Luigi Pirandello, received the first
Tony Randall
Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play ''The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...
Foundation Award; and was presented at the New York Theater Workshop (2006).
In 2007, the NEA gave a grant for the remounting of ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' under a program dedicated to the remounting of American masterworks.
References
External links
Video - InterviewWomen in Theatre: Martha Clarke, director/choreographer
Excerpt video: "Martha Clarke: Light and Dark"
Interview in book, "Conversations with Anne"by Anne Bogart
Martha Clarke (Signature Theatre's Residency 5 Playwright)
''God's Fool''was presented June 12 - July 2, 2022 at
La MaMa in New York City.
''God's Fool'' - OpinionLyrical retelling of St. Francis’ life captivates at La MaMa , Faith Matters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Martha
Contemporary dance choreographers
American choreographers
American theatre directors
Women theatre directors
American opera directors
Female opera directors
American contemporary dancers
Artists from Baltimore
MacArthur Fellows
1944 births
Living people
Peabody Institute alumni
Park School of Baltimore alumni