My Journey ends here...
ACTORS LAB
Actors Laboratory.
Adress : 1455 North Laurel Avenue, Hollywood.
Story :
Morris Carnovsky and his wife Phoebe, theater personages of the East Coast, had founded and headed this course which was considered as the West Coast branch of the New York Group Theater.
The Group Theater had been created during summer 1931 by young idealists desirous to tranform the American Theater, Lee Strasberg, Harold Clurman (
) and Cheryl Crawford.
They recruited 28 actors to create the company.
This group theater was conceived as a totally opposite answer to the theater of the 20's, view as a light and old-fashioned entertainment.
Their view was the one of a new theater which reflected the Americans existence, who lived through a time of Great Depression.
During its 10 years living and its some 20 productions, their intention not only has been reached, but also has changed forever the course of the American Theater.
The Group Theater presented some works about the life conditions of the disadvantaged people, and took position against capitalism and for the left-wing ideas defense.
The students usally studied plays about the difficulties of the working-men and working-women, allowing a critical discussion about captalism.
The company had been broken up in 1941 after 10 years of activity, but its members continue to insufflate a new vim
in the American theater, and during the next decade, the Group Theater actors, as Morris Carnosvsky and his wife Phoebe Brand, J.Edward Bromberg and Roman Bohnen created the Actors Lab, and carried on teaching actors, and giving a theatrical instruction and making plays for students and public in Los Angeles.Theater writers, actors and stage directors from Broadway came and presented their workin California.
The Actors Lab was created in 1941 and broke up in 1952.
Link with Marilyn :
Marilyn and a few starlets from the Fox were sent there to attend to the teaching courses.
In 1947, she attended the course, read some plays (including « Clash by night » written by Clifford Odets, of which she would later play the part in a movie), studied some scenes, first payed by the Fox, then payed by her new benefactors John Carroll and Lucille Ryman.
This work pleased a lot to Marilyn, who had been raised in the same environment as the one described in the plays.
Phoebe Brand herself, remembers Marilyn as a meticulous pupil.
She met the most distinguished personalities from the New York theater and was for the first time, in contact with the social and political concerns which would tortment her throughout her life.
Although she had been strongly impressed by the Actors Lab, her shyness kept her from taking an important part in its activities.
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