Mabou Mines is an

experimental theatre Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...

company founded in 1970 and based 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 ...

Founding and history

Mabou Mines was founded by

David Warrilow David Warrilow (28 December 1934 – 17 August 1995) was an English actor best known as one of the "finest interpreters of Samuel Beckett’s work".Cited in Ackerley, C.J., and Gontarski, Stan, ''The Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett'', New Yor ...

Lee Breuer Esser Leopold Breuer (February 6, 1937 – January 3, 2021) was an American playwright, theater director, academic, educator, filmmaker, poet, and lyricist. Breuer taught and directed on six continents. Career Breuer was a founding co-artistic ...

Ruth Maleczech Ruth Maleczech (January 8, 1939 – September 30, 2013) was an American avant-garde stage actress.
University of Notre Dame; a ...

JoAnne Akalaitis JoAnne Akalaitis (born June 29, 1937, in Cicero, Illinois) is an avant-garde Lithuanian-American theatre director and writer. She won five Obie Awards for direction (and sustained achievement) and was founder in 1970 of the critically acclaimed M ...

, and

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

, at the house of Akalaitis and Glass near Mabou Mines, Nova Scotia. In 2020, the company announced

Carl Hancock Rux Carl Hancock Rux () is an American poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, recording artist, journalist, curator and conceptual installation artist working in text, dance, ritualized performance, audio, video, and photography. Described in the NY T ...

and Mallory Catlett as its new co-Artistic Directors. The company began as a resident company at

Ellen Stewart Ellen Stewart (November 7, 1919 – January 13, 2011) was an American theatre director and producer and the founder of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. During the 1950s she worked as a fashion designer for Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodm ...

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 the East Village. In 1986, the company won an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence for its theatrical contributions to the Off-Broadway community. As the company stated in a 1990 press kit, "The artistic purpose of Mabou Mines has been and remains the creation of new theatre pieces from original texts and the theatrical use of existing texts staged from a specific point of view. Each member is encouraged to pursue his or her artistic vision by initiating and collaborating on a wide range of projects of varying styles, developing them from initial concept to final performance. This process is intense and often lengthy. While the director of a Mabou Mines work is responsible for its concept and its basic structure, the ultimate production reflects the concerns and the artistic input of all its collaborators." In 2005, Mabou Mines was among 406 New York City arts and

social service Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

organizations to receive part of a $20 million grant from the

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

.Carnegie Corporation

Production history

*''Faust 2.0 (2019)'' *''Animal Magnetism -'' ON TOUR AT THE WUZHEN THEATRE FESTIVAL (2018) *''Gospel at Colonus'' (2018) *''Medea'' (in Development, 2018) *''Glass Guignol'' (2017) *''A Coffin in Egypt (2017)'' *''Imagining The Imaginary Invalid'' (2016) *''La Divina Caricatura (2013)'' *''We Would Find Landscapes (2012)'' *''Finn (2010)'' *''PATAPHYSICS PENYEACH: SUMMA DRAMATICA & PORCO MORTO (2009)'' *''Song For New York: What Women Do While Men Sit Knitting'' (2007) *''Lucia's Chapters of Coming Forth by Day (2007)'' *''A Prelude to Death in Venice (Harvey's Version)'' (2007) *''Summa Dramatica: A Pataphysical Acting Lesson'' (2005) *''Red Beads'' (2005) *''Mabou Mines DollHouse'' (2003, adapted from

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having bee ...

'') *''Cara Lucia'' (2003) *''Ecco Porco'' (2002) *''Animal Magnetism'' (2000) *''Belén-A Book of Hours'' (1999) *''Happy Days'' (1996) *''The Red Horse Animation'' (1996, reconstruction/revival) *''Pootanah Moksha'' (1996) *''Peter and Wendy'' (1996) *''An Epidog'' (1995) *''Reel To Real'' (1994) *''Mother'' (1994) *''The MahabharANTa, and Selected Stories from the Insectiad'' (1992) *''The Bribe'' (1991) *''The Quantum'' (1991) *''

In the Jungle of Cities ''In the Jungle of Cities'' (''Im Dickicht der Städte'') is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. Written between 1921 and 1924, it received its first theatrical production under the title ''Im Dickicht'' ("In the jungle") a ...

'' (1991) *''The Miller Series'' (1990, for radio) *''Mabou Mines Lear'' (1990) *''The B. Beaver Animation'' (1990, reconstruction/revival) *''

The Gospel at Colonus ''The Gospel at Colonus'' is an African-American musical version of Sophocles's tragedy, ''Oedipus at Colonus. '' The show was created in 1983 by the experimental-theatre director Lee Breuer, one of the founders of the seminal American avant-garde ...

'' (1988) *''Sueños'' (1987) *''

Worstward Ho "Worstward Ho" is a prose piece by Samuel Beckett. Its title is a parody of Charles Kingsley's ''Westward Ho!''. Written in English in 1983, it is the penultimate novella by Beckett. Together with '' Company'' and ''Ill Seen Ill Said'', it was ...

'' (1986) *''The Kafka Parables'' (1986, for radio) *''Help Wanted'' (1986) *''C.E.O'' (1986) *''The Interview Series'' (1985, for radio) *''Starcock'' (1985) *''It's a Man's World'' (1985) *''

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said ''Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said'' is a 1974 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. The novel is set in a futuristic dystopia where the United States has become a police state in the aftermath of a Second American Civil Wa ...

'' (1985) *''Through the Leaves'' (1984) *''Pretty Boy'' (1984) *''

Imagination Dead Imagine Imagination Dead Imagine is a short prose text by Samuel Beckett first published in French in '' Les Lettres nouvelles'' in 1965. Its first English publication was a translation in ''The Sunday Times'' in 1965 followed by a trade edition by Beckett ...

'' (1984) *''The Joey Schmerda Story'' (1983, for radio) *''Hajj'' (1983) *''Company'' (1983) *''Cold Harbor'' (1983) *''The Keeper Radio Series'' (1982) *''Wrong Guys'' (1981) *''Dead End Kids'' (1980) *''Vanishing Pictures'' (1980) *''Sister Suzie Cinema'' (1980) *''Easy Daisy'' (1980, for radio) *''A Prelude to a Death in Venice'' (1980) *''Southern Exposure'' (1979) *''

Mercier and Camier ''Mercier and Camier'' is a novel by Samuel Beckett that was written in 1946, but remained unpublished until 1970. Appearing immediately before his celebrated "trilogy" of ''Molloy'', ''Malone Dies'' and '' The Unnamable'', ''Mercier et Camier'' ...

'' (1979) *''Shaggy Dog Animation'' (1978) *''Dressed Like An Egg'' (1977) *''The Saint and the Football Player'' (1976) *''The B. Beaver Animation'' (1975) *''

Cascando ''Cascando'' is a radio play by Samuel Beckett. It was written in French in December 1961, subtitled ''Invention radiophonique pour musique et voix'', with music by the Franco-Romanian composer Marcel Mihalovici. It was first broadcast on France ...

'' (1975) *''The Lost Ones'' (1975) *''Mabou Mines Performs Samuel Beckett'' (1974) *''Send / Receive / Send'' (1973) *''Music for Voices'' (1972) *''Arc Welding'' (1972) *''Play'' (1971) *''Come and Go'' (1971) *''The Red Horse Animation'' (1970)

References

External links

Mabou Mines websiteMabou Mines Archive
at Fales Library and Special Collections at New York University {{Authority control Theatre companies in New York City 1970 establishments in New York (state) Performing groups established in 1970 Theatre in New York (state)