Guthrie Theater

The idea of the theater began in 1959 during a series of conversations among Tyrone Guthrie and two colleagues -- Oliver Rea and Peter Zeisler -- who were disenchanted with Broadway. They wanted to create a theater with a resident acting company that would perform the classics. In Minneapolis/St. Paul a steering committee was formed to bring theater to the Twin Cities. The T.B. Walker Foundation donated the land behind the Walker Art Center for a building and contributed $400,000 for construction. The steering committee agreed to raise at least $900,000 from the community. The new theater was completed in 1963, planned by architect Ralph Rapson with a 1,441-seat thrust stage designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch. The Guthrie Theater opened on May 7, 1963 with a production of Hamlet directed by Sir Tyrone Guthrie, the theater's founder.

Artistic Directors. Sir Tyrone Guthrie was the Artistic Director from 1963 through 1966 and thereafter returned to direct each year until 1969. In 1966 Guthrie's protégé, actor/director Douglas Campbell, took over as Artistic Director. Michael Langham was Artistic Director from 1971 to 1977. He was a respected colleague of Tyrone Guthrie and came to the Guthrie after 12 years as Artistic Director of Canada's Stratford Festival Theatre. In 1977 the Guthrie Board appointed their first American Artistic Director, Alvin Epstein, who had worked as an actor and director primarily at the Yale Repertory Theatre. In 1980, an international search for Epstein's successor resulted in the appointment of Liviu Ciulei, former Artistic Director of the Bulandra Theatre in Romania.

After Ciulei's resignation in 1985, the Board concluded that the next Artistic Director should be the single head of the organization and they wanted an Artistic Director committed to a resident acting company, to the classical repertory, and with a vision for the Guthrie as a leader in American Theater. Garland Wright was selected as the sixth Artistic Director of the Guthrie Theater. Joe Dowling, internationally-known director who was affiliated with Ireland's the Abbey Theatre, was named Artistic Director in 1995.

Smaller theater spaces. In 1968 the Guthrie began presenting work on smaller stages, a tradition that has continued and evolved through the years. From 1968 to 1971 productions were staged at the 500-seat Crawford-Livingston Theater in St. Paul. In addition, the Guthrie presented three seasons (1968-71) at The Other Place, a 200-seat theater just two blocks away from the mainstage. The Other Place was an alternative theater that experimented with new plays and methods of production.

When The Other Place was torn down for urban renewal, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded a grant for another theater--Guthrie 2, located on Washington Avenue near the University of Minnesota. This space helped the Guthrie fulfill its responsibility to the ongoing development of its artists and to the American theater. The Guthrie 2 program continued until 1978. Garland Wright was also committed to the idea of a second performing space, and created the Guthrie Laboratory located at 700 North First Street in the Minneapolis Warehouse District. The Laboratory was established to provide a facility to explore and develop new work and performance techniques with the purpose of enhancing the actors' skills.

In the 21st century the Guthrie is building a new multistage theater center on the banks of the Mississippi River designed by Jean Nouvel and scheduled to open in 2005. The complex will include three stages: a classic thrust stage for the classics, a proscenium stage for the more intimate classics, and a studio theater for developing the classics of tomorrow.

A more complete history of the Guthrie Theater is available from their Web site at: http://www.guthrietheater.org/act_II/history.htm

From the guide to the Guthrie Theater Archives, 1957-[ongoing], (University of Minnesota Libraries. Performing Arts Archives, Manuscripts Division [paa])