- Alan Schneider
Alan Schneider (
December 12 ,1917 -May 3 ,1984 ) was an American theatre director and mentor responsible for more than 100theatre productions. He directed the 1956 Americanpremiere of "Waiting for Godot ";Edward Albee 's "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? " and "Tiny Alice ";Michael Weller 's "Moonchildren " and "Loose Ends";Harold Pinter 's "The Birthday Party", "The Dumb Waiter ", and "The Collection"; andBertolt Brecht 's "The Caucasian Chalk Circle ". Schneider taught atCatholic University ,The Juilliard School , and theUniversity of California, San Diego ; was associated withArena Stage for 30 years; was the co-artistic director ofThe Acting Company ; and at the time of his death was the president of theboard of directors forTheatre Communications Group .During his lifetime, Schneider was the leading director of
Samuel Beckett 's plays, and there was a Beckettian aspect to Schneider's death. While in London, Schneider attempted to cross a street in order to mail a letter to Beckett's address in France. Stepping off the pavement, the (Russian-born) American director looked to the right for oncoming traffic ... momentarily forgetting that motor vehicles in Britain travel on the "left" side of the road. He was struck and killed by an oncoming motorcycle. When Beckett learned the circumstances of Schneider's death, he expressed hope that Schneider might have been intending to mail letters to several recipients rather than having stepped into the street solely for Beckett's sake.Following his death in a 1984
London traffic accident, the Alan Schneider Memorial Fund was established by TCG, The Acting Company, and theSociety of Stage Directors and Choreographers . Proceeds from the Fund go to the Alan Schneider Director Award, which provides national visibility to the recipient as well as a grant to support activities specifically tied to the development of the craft of directing. Recipients of the Alan Schneider Director Award include: Mark Brokaw, Peter C. Brosius, Kyle Donnelly, Henry Godinez, Nancy Keystone, Roberta Levitow, Charles Newell, Roman Paska, Mary B. Robinson, David Saint andDarko Tresnjak .External links
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