LEE BREUER - WRITER/DIRECTOR

Lee Breuer is a founding artistic director of Mabou Mines Theater Company in New York City, which he began in 1970 with colleagues Philip Glass, Ruth Maleczech, JoAnne Akalitis, David Warrilow, Frederick Neuman and Bill Raymond. He is a writer, director and lyricist who also works outside the Company in film, on Broadway and on a variety of theatrical projects in Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America.

Breuer's most recent work with Mabou Mines is the puppet opera RED BEADS, created in collaboration with puppeteer Basil Twist and composer Ushio Torikai. Of the September 2005 New York City premiere, the New York Times said: "… theater as sorcery; it is a crossroads where artistic traditions meet to invent a marvelous common language. It is a fairy tale, a puppet play and a chamber opera… amazing work."

His previous Mabou Mines production, MABOU MINES DOLLHOUSE, a deconstruction of the Ibsen classic, won 2004 Obie Awards for Best Director and Best Performance (an Obie is the Off-Broadway equivalent award to Broadway's Tony Awards). The production has become an international sensation as the Ibsen Centennial year approaches (2006), having already been hailed not only in New York but at the Ibsen Festival in Oslo, Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, the Theater der Welt 2005 International Festival in Stuttgart, Germany and the Paris Festival d'Automne. The production continues its international touring with upcoming featured engagements including Paris, Hong Kong, and tours in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. Another production is being planned for production in Buenos Aires and touring in South America, and a high definition video production is being planned for international production and release.

Other of his more recent Mabou Mines productions include Best Production Obie Award winning PETER AND WENDY, ANIMAL MAGNETISM, the radical ECCO PORCO adapted from his novel La Divina Caricatura, which premiered at Performance Space 122 in 2002, and a Best Performance Obie Award winning gender-reversed production of KING LEAR, which opened at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York. Most of his previous work with Mabou Mines premiered at The Public Theater in New York under the patronage of Joseph Papp and at the La Mama Experimental Theater Club under the patronage of Ellen Stewart. These include his Obie Award winning adaptation of three works by Samuel Beckett: PLAY, COME AND GO, and THE LOST ONES. He is the author and director of Mabou Mines' trilogy ANIMATIONS, including THE B BEAVER, THE RED HORSE and THE SHAGGY DOG ANIMATION, which was awarded the "Best Play' Obie in 1978. In 1980 Breuer received two Obie's for writing and direction of his play, A PRELUDE TO A DEATH IN VENICE. He also wrote and directed AN EPIDOG, winner of the President's Commission Kennedy Center-American Express Award for Best New Work, and the performance poem HAJJ, which opened at the Kennedy Center and toured to Japan, Brazil and Russia and South Korea.

Breuer's best known work is THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS, a Pentacostal Gospel rendering of Sophocles' OEDIPUS AT COLONUS created with composer Bob Telson and starring Morgan Freeman and Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama, which premiered at The Brooklyn Academy of Music's 'Next Wave Festival,' and was performed on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater in 1988 for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS was televised on the PBS series Great Performances. The production received numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination (1988), the Obie for Best Musical (1984), and an Emmy Television Award. Subsequently cast members Pops Staples and the Blind Boys of Alabama received Grammy Awards for their performance in the production. THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS was performed at the Theatre du Châtelet in Paris, the Spoleto Festival, the Edinburg Festival, Moscow's International Chekov Theater Festival and at the Summer Festival in Barcelona. An early version appeared at London's Riverside Studios, and the Avignon Festival in the South of France in 1980. It was recreated for the 70th Anniversary of New York's legendary Apollo Theater for two weeks in the fall of 2004 starring Charles S. Dutton, the Blind Boys and Jevetta Steele, and a feature film is in development for world wide distribution.

Previously Lee Breuer mounted THE TEMPEST for Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park, starring Raul Julia, and LULU for Robert Brustein's American Repertory Theater. His music-theater collaborations as author and director with Bob Telson include SISTER SUZIE CINEMA, which premiered at The Public Theater and was televised on the PBS series 'Alive from Off Center,' the Spoleto/American Music Festival/Next Wave Festival production of THE WARRIOR ANT which won a Best Performance Obie for Bunraku Master Puppeteer Yoshida Tamamatsu, and the forthcoming GOSPEL CANTATA with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra scheduled to premiere at the Wexner Center in Minneapolis in September of 2007, followed by performances at BAM Next Wave Festival with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and at the Flynn Center in Burlington, VT with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

Lee Breuer has directed eleven Obie Award winning productions over a period of thirty years including David Warrilow in THE LOST ONES (1974); Bill Raymond in A PRELUDE TO DEATH IN VENICE (1979); Morgan Freeman in THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (1984); Ruth Maleczech in HAJJ (1986); Yoshida Tamamatsu in THE WARRIOR ANT (1990); Ruth Maleczech, Isabel Monk, Karen Kandel, Greg Mehrten in MABOU MINES LEAR (1991); Karen Kandel in PETER AND WENDY (1997); and Maude Mitchell in MABOU MINTES DOLLHOUSE (2004).

Breuer's next project for the stage is a commission by the City of Patras, Greece, Cultural Capital of Europe 2006, to direct a unique interpretation of the second book in the classic Aeschylus trilogy, CHOEPHORAE ("The Libation Bearers"), for premiere in Patras in May of 2006.

In 1988 Lee Breuer was awarded the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, popularly referred to as the "Genius" grant. He has also been awarded playwriting grants and fellowships from CAPS, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Guggenheim Foundation, and the McKnight Foundation. He was a Japan-United States Friendship Commission exchange fellow and delivered the inaugural lectures for the Beckett Chair at Trinity College, Dublin, supported by a grant from CIES. He has received Fulbright Fellowships for India and Greece and Asian Cultural Council Grants for projects in Korea and Thailand. The ITI has sponsored projects in Greece and Norway and the Fund for Mutual Understanding, projects in Russia. The Ford Foundation has subsidized his work in East Africa. He has been awarded the prestigious Bunting Fellowship at Radcliffe for the 2006-07 academic year.

Breuer has taught extensively: Co-Chair of Directing, Yale University School of Drama (1986-99); Professor of Theater, Stanford University (1995-99); Associate Professor, UC Santa Cruz (1994); Associate Professor, Arizona State University West (1992-93); Associate Professor, Yale University School of Drama (1977-80); Writers and Directors Seminar, Harvard University (1981); as well as teaching in the United States at New York University, Columbia University, Penn State University, University of California at Berkeley and The O'Neil Center, and internationally at Trinity College Dublin, The Drama Institute Beijing, Aristotle University Thessaloniki, Athens University, and the Moscow Art Theater School of Acting. He returns as a guest teacher to Yale University in 2006.

Breuer's books include La Divina Caricature (Green Integer Series, Sun and Moon Press); Animations (Performing Arts Journal Publication); Sister Suzie Cinema: The Collected Poems and Performances 1976-1986; The Gospel at Colonus (both Theater Communications Group publications); The Warrior Ant, illustrated by Swan Weil (Vincent Fitzgerald Press) and a comic of The Red Horse Animation in Theater of Images (Drama Book Specialists).

[The following dates are approximate]

THEATER: WRITER, LYRICIST, ADAPTER AND/OR DIRECTOR
2005 RED BEADS, New York University's Skirball Center (Mabou Mines Production - MMP)
2004 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS, New York City Apollo Theatre (Sharon Levy, Producer)
2003 MABOU MINES DOLLHOUSE (Breuer), St Ann's Warehouse (MMP) with Lisa Harris, producer)
2003 TWO LITTLE INDIANS (Frank), HERE (Lisa Harris, producer)
2002 RED BEADS, (opera-Breuer), Mass MoCA (MMP - work in progress)
2002 A DOLLS HOUSE ADAPTATION (Breuer), NY Theatre Workshop (Sheuer/NYTW - work in progress)
2002 THE CHOEPHORAE (Aeschylus, adapted by Breuer/Andritsanou), ITI Convention, Athens, Greece with Armadillo Theater Group (Armadillo Theater Group - work in progress)
2002 PETER AND WENDY (Barrie, adapted by Lorwin), New Victory Theater (Liza Lorwin, producer)
2002 ECCO PORCO (Breuer), Performance Space 122 (MMP)
2001 ANIMAL MAGNETISM (O'Reilly), Festival Divaldo, Pilsen, Czech Republic (MMP)
2001 ECCO PORCO PART I (Breuer), Performance Space 122 (MMP)
2001 HAJJ (Breuer), Seoul Theater Festival, Korea (MMP)
2000 HAJJ (Breuer), Maly Theater, St. Petersburg, Russia (MMP)
2000 ANIMAL MAGNETISM (O'Reilly) Arts at St. Ann's (MMP)
1999 PETER AND WENDY (Barrie, adapted by Lorwin), Dublin Theater Festival, Ireland (Liza Lorwin, producer)
1998 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS, Moscow (Sharon Levy, producer)
1997 PETER AND WENDY (Barrie, adapted by Lorwin), New Victory Theater (MMP)
1996 THE RED HORSE ANIMATION (Breuer, reconstruction) Brazil (MMP)
1996 POOTANAH MOKSHA (Mohn) Brazil Festival of the Arts, Brazil
1996 PETER AND WENDY (Barrie, adapted by Lorwin), Public Theater (Henson International Puppet Festival)
1996 PETER AND WENDY (Barrie, adapted by Lorwin), Spoleto Festival USA (Liza Lorwin, producer)
1995 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), A Contemporary Theater, Seattle (Sharon Levy, producer)
1995 AN EPIDOG (Breuer), HERE (MMP)
1992 THE MAHABHARANTA (Breuer), Ontological Theater (MMP)
1991 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), ACT, San Francisco (Dodgers)
1991 THE QUANTUM (Breuer) - The Grey Art Gallery (NYU), New York, NY
1990 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson),
1990 LEAR (Shakespeare, adapted by Breuer)
1990 B BEAVER ANIMATION (Breuer, reconstruction), Public Theater, NYSF-Papp (MMP)
1989 THE WARRIOR ANT (Breuer/Telson) Brooklyn Academy of Music-Next Wave Festival (Liza Lorwin, producer); Spoleto Festival; American Music Theater Festival
1988 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (Broadway) (Dodgers)
1988 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), Cleveland Playhouse (Broadway preview) (Dodgers)
1987 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis (Liza Lorwin, producer)
1986 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), Alliance Theater, Atlanta (Liza Lorwin)
1986 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), Chatelet Theater in Paris, France; Spoleto Festival, Italy; Barcelona Festival, Spain (Mel Howard, producer)
1986 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), Annenberg Center for The American Musical Theater Festival, Philadelphia
1986 THE WARRIOR ANT (Breuer/Telson), Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center (Liza Lorwin, producer)
1986 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), PBS Great Performances (Liza Lorwin, producer)
1986 PRELUDE TO DEATH IN VENICE/HAJJ REVIVAL (Breuer), Dance Theater Workshop (MMP)
1985 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), The Mark Taper Forum/L.A. Music Center (Liza Lorwin, producer)
1984 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), Arena Theater, Washington D.C. (Liza Lorwin, producer)
1983 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), Brooklyn Academy of Music - Next Wave Festival (Liza Lorwin, producer)
1983 HAJJ (Breuer), Public Theater, NYSF-Papp (MMP)
1982 HAJJ (Breuer), Public Theater, NYSF-Papp (MMP); The Performing Garage (MMP); The American Film Institute National Video Festival - Washington and Los Angeles (MMP)
1981 THE TEMPEST (Shakespeare), Delacorte Theater, NYSF-Papp
1980 SISTER SUZIE CINEMA (opera - Breuer/Telson), Public Theater, NYSF-Papp (Breuer/Telson, producers)
1980 A PRELUDE TO DEATH IN VENICE (Breuer), Public Theater, NYSF-Papp (MMP)
1980 LULU (Wedekind), American Repertory Theater
1978 THE SHAGGY DOG ANIMATION (Breuer), Public Theater, NYSF- Papp (MMP)
1976 THE LOST ONES (revised), Public Theater, NYSF (Joseph Papp, producer)
1975 THE SAINT AND THE FOOTBALL PLAYERS (Thibeau, revised), Connecticut Dance Festival (The Bunch, Inc Production)
1975 THE LOST ONES (Beckett, adapted by Breuer), Theater for a New City (MMP)
1974 B BEAVER ANIMATION (Breuer, revised), Museum of Modern Art (MMP)
1974 THE SAINT AND THE FOOTBALL PLAYERS (Thibeau, choreography by Breuer), Walker Art Center (MMP)
1974 SEND/RECEIVE/SEND (Sonnier), The Kitchen (Performance Art)
1973 MUSIC FOR VOICES VIDEO (Glass), The Kitchen (Performance Art)
1972 THE ARC WELDING PIECE (Highstein), Paula Cooper Gallery (Performance Art)
1972 B BEAVER ANIMATION (Breuer), Loeb Student Center, NYU (MMP)
1971 RED HORSE ANIMATION (Breuer, revised), Whitney Museum (MMP)
1971 COME AND GO (Beckett), Brooklyn Bridge Festival (Ilana Heiss, producer)
1970 RED HOURSE ANIMATION (Breuer), Guggenheim Museum (MMP)
1970 PLAY (Beckett, revised), La Mama ETC
1968 MESSINKOFF DIALOGUES (Brecht), Traverse Theater, Edinburgh
1967 PLAY (Beckett), American Cultural Center, Paris
1967 MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN (Brecht), Paris Studio Theater
1964 EVENTS & COMMEDIA SONGS (Breuer/Spener), San Francisco Mime Troupe
1964 COMPOSITION FOR ACTORS (Breuer), San Francisco Tape Music Center
1964 THE RUN (Breuer), San Francisco Tape Music Center
1964 LULU (Wedekind), The Playhouse
1964 THE ALLEGAGTION (Ferlinghetti), San Francisco Poetry Project
1963 THE MAIDS (Genet), ACT, San Francisco, with Anna Halprin of Dancers' Workshop, Ronnie Davis of San Francisco Mime Troupe, and Ken Dewey
1963 THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA (Lorca), San Francisco Actors' Workshop
1963 THE UNDERPANTS (Sternheim), San Francisco Actors' Workshop
1962 HAPPY DAYS (Beckett), San Francisco Actors' Workshop
1959 THE LINE (Breuer), Theater 3K7,UCLA
1958 A PLAY (Breuer), Theater 3K7,UCLA
1957 THE WOOD COMPLAINS (Breuer), Theater 3K7,UCLA

FILM: WRITER, DIRECTOR
In development - COUP-AGE (Breuer), Paris/New York
In development - THE WORKSHOP (Breuer), Arizona
In development - JOHN AND ROSE (Breuer), New York

TELEVISION: WRITER, DIRECTOR, LYRICIST
1986 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS (Sophocles, adapted by Breuer/Telson), PBS Great Performances

PUBLICATIONS:
2002 La Divina Caricatura, a novel. Green Integer Series, Sun and Moon Press, San Francisco, CA.
1998 B BEAVER ANIMATION in From the Other Side of the Century Collection. Sun and Moon Press, San Francisco, CA.
1992 'Spin' Magazine USIS, South Indian Theater (Kudiatum)
1992 THE WARRIOR ANT, an art book illustrated by Swan Weil. Vincent Fitzgerald Press.
1989 THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS. Theatre Communications Group Press, New York, NY.
1988 THE WARRIOR ANT in 'Yale Theater Magazine.' New Haven, CT.
1987 Sister Suzie Cinema: Collected Poems and Performances 1976-1986. Theatre Communications Group Press, New York, NY.
1987 'An Ant in Hell' in 'Yale Theater Magazine.' New Haven, CT. Spring, 1987.
1986 'The Theater is Alive and Well and Living in Women' in 'The Village Voice.' New York, NY
1984 HAJJ in Wordplays 3. Performing Arts Journal Publications, New York, NY
1983 HAJJ in 'Performing Arts Journal'. New York, NY.
1982 A PRELUDE TO DEATH IN VENICE in New Plays USA 1. Theatre Communications Group Press, New York, NY.
1982 'Patalogue Magazine.' Italy. A PRELUDE TO DEATH IN VENICE, winner of Patalogue Magazine Award
1981 A PRELUDE TO DEATH IN VENICE. Theatre Communications Group Press, New York, NY.
1978 Animations. Performing Arts Journal, New York, NY. (Includes performance texts of THE RED HORSE ANIMATION, THE B. BEAVER ANIMATION and THE SHAGGY DOG ANIMATION)
1977 THE RED HORSE ANIMATION in Theater of Images. Drama Book Specialists, New York, NY
1977 'How We Work' in 'Performing Arts Journal,' New York, NY.
1976 'A Comic of THE RED HORSE ANIMATION' published privately
1961 'In the City' short fiction. San Francisco Review
1959 'The Wall' short fiction. Westwinds Magazine

TEACHING:
Faculty -
2004-05 Guest teaching, Yale University School of Drama, Brown University
1986-89 Co-Chair of Directing Department, Yale University School of Drama
1995-99 Professor of Theater, Stanford University
1994 Associate Professor, UC Santa Cruz
1992-93 Associate Professor, Arizona State University West
1977-80 Associate Professor, Yale University School of Drama
1981 Harvard University Extension
1981 Experimental Wing, New York University

Workshops -
1995 Dramatic Institute in Beijing
1986 University of Illinois
1984 University of California (Santa Cruz)
1984 University of California (Davis)
1984 University of California (Santa Barbara)
1978 O'Neill Center
1976 South Western University (Memphis)
1968 London Workshop
1967 Paris Workshops
1962-4 Workshops in conjunction with the San Francisco Mime Troupe

AWARDS:
2004 OBIE Award for 'Direction' for DOLLHOUSE
1997 OBIE Award for 'Best Production' to PETER AND WENDY
1997 OBIE Award for 'Best Performance' to Karen Kandel for PETER AND WENDY
1994 Fund for New American Plays Award for THE EPIDOG (Breuer)
1986 OBIE Award for 'Sustained Achievement' to Mabou Mines
1985 National Institute for Music Theater Award 'Outstanding Achievement' to GOSPEL AT COLONUS
1985 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Concept to GOSPEL AT COLONUS
1985 Los Angeles Dramalogue Award for Best Direction and Text to GOSPEL AT COLONUS
1985 National Black Programming Award for Best Production Communicating Excellence to Black Audiences to GOSPEL AT COLONUS
1985 National Institute of Music Theater's Award for the Advancement of Music Theater
1984 OBIE Award for 'Best Musical' to GOSPEL AT COLONUS
1984 National Gospel Association Award 'Outstanding Production' to GOSPEL AT COLONUS
1984 Brandeis University Creative Arts Awards Citation in Theatre Arts to Mabou Mines for 'extraordinary artistic achievement,' re: script for HAJJ (Breuer)
1983 National ASCAP Popular Song Award for GOSPEL AT COLONUS lyrics
1983 United Gospel Association Award for Best Production to GOSPEL AT COLONUS
1983 American Theater Wing Joseph Maharam Award 'Consistently Excellent Collaborative Design'
1981 Villager Downtown Theatre Award to Mabou Mines for Outstanding Season
1980 OBIE Award to Lee Breuer for his script and direction of A PRELUDE TO DEATH IN VENICE.
1980 San Francisco Critics' Circle Award for Best Touring Production to A PRELUDE TO DEATH IN VENICE
1980 Villager Downtown Theatre Award for 'Best Musical' to SISTER SUZIE CINEMA
1979 Los Angeles Dramalogue Critics' Award to Lee Breuer (Direction) for THE LOST ONES
1978 OBIE Award for Best Play to Lee Breuer for THE SHAGGY DOG ANIMATION
1978 Villager Downtown Theatre Award to THE SHAGGY DOG ANIMATION
1978 Soho News Award for Best Ensemble to THE SHAGGY DOG ANIMATION
1974 OBIE Award for 'General Excellence' to Mabou Mines
1958-9 UCLA 'Best Play' Award to A PLAY and THE LINE
1958 Samuel French Award to A PLAY

NOMINATIONS:
1988 Tony Nomination for Best Book - GOSPEL AT COLONUS (officially declined)
1988 Pulitzer Prize Nomination for Best Play - GOSPEL AT COLONUS
1987 NAACP Image Award Nomination - GOSPEL AT COLONUS
1986 Grammy Award Nomination for Best Theatrical Album - GOSPEL AT COLONUS
1986 Emmy Award Nomination for Best Direction (with Ruth Browning) - GOSPEL AT COLONUS

FELLOWSHIPS:
2003 Fulbright Fellowship - Greece
2001 Asian Cultural Council - Thailand, Study
2000 Asian Cultural Council - Seoul, Korea, Workshop
1997-2001 John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship
1995 Asian Cultural Council - China, Teaching at Dramatic Institute in Beijing
1993 Japan-United States Friendship Commission - Japan, Research and Tour Planning
1992 Asian Cultural Council - China
1992 Arts International - China, Teaching and Travel
1992 Arts International - Bali, Rehearsal and Travel
1990-91 CIES Counsel for International Exchange of Scholars - North and South India
1985 Rockefeller Foundation Playwriting Fellowship
1984 McKnight Foundation Playwriting Fellowship
1983 Japan-United States Friendship Commission Exchange Fellowship
1982 National Endowment for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship
1979 Rockefeller Foundation Playwriting Fellowship
1978 Creative Artists Public Service (CAPS) Fellowship
1978 National Endowment for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship
1977 Guggenheim Fellowship