Charles Marowitz

Charles Marowitz (26 January 1934 – 2 May 2014)[1] was an American critic, theatre director, and playwright, regular columnist on Swans Commentary.[2] He collaborated with Peter Brook at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and later founded and directed The Open Space Theatre in London.[3]

He was also the co-founder of Encore magazine which was published between 1954 and 1965, and co-editor of The Encore Reader: A Chronicle of the New Drama (1965). He was a regular contributor to publications such as The New York Times, The Times (London), TheaterWeek, and American Theatre and was the lead critic on the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner until it ceased publication.

The period as a critic in London was recorded in the book Confessions of a Counterfeit Critic (Eyre Methuen 1973). Its subtitle was A London Theatre Notebook 1958-1971.

He was the author of Murdering Marlowe, which imagined a rivalry between William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. It was selected as a finalist for the GLAAD Media Awards of 2002. He was author the 1987 Broadway play Sherlock's Last Case with Frank Langella in the lead role.[4]

His free adaptations of Shakespeare were collected in The Marowitz Shakespeare. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease in 2014 at the age of 80.[5]

  1. ^ Charles Marowitz, Iconoclastic Director and Playwright, Dies at 82, New York Times, 11 May 2014
  2. ^ Bio on swans.com
  3. ^ Albert Hunt, Geoffrey Reeves, Peter Brook, Cambridge University Press, 1995, p.51
  4. ^ Frank Rich, "Stage: Langella In 'Sherlock's Last.' ", The New York Times, August 21, 1987, accessed October 11, 2007.
  5. ^ Elaine Woo "Charles Marowitz, playwright, director and critic, dies at 80", Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2014