Harold Clurman
Dunkirk NY – I was sitting here creating Powerpoint slides for my Introduction to the Performing Arts, and I was working on the Group Theatre. I found a YouTube video of Harold Clurman, and just had to share it with you all. Amazing how some things don’t really change over the years. -twl
I just showed the entire documentary that this is from (Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre) in my Directing II class. What is it that Jimmy Porter says in “Look Back in Anger” — something about wishing for just a little human enthusiasm? We could learn a lot from Clurman about passion. And also about the responsibilities of the artist. Clurman was a director, yes, but he was also a critic, and author of many books, and a professor at CUNY. It wasn’t all about him and his career — he felt it was necessary to make a contribution through his words, his actions, his speeches. Aside from Tony Kushner, what artist today is doing something as committed, as intellectual, as passionate? It’s not just our society that is mediocre, but also our artists’ sense of responsibility to the art and to society. To quote Clurman: “this always makes me very angry.”
What a powerful clip. Thank you for highlighting it.
[...] A Poor Player, Tom Loughlin promotes a great YouTube video of none other than Harold [...]