177:, Wellman said that he uses words as objects in his writing. "I found if you try to write totally in cliches and things that don't sound right," Wellman clarified, "you deal with a language that frankly is 98% of what people speak, think, and hear. So it's enormously enjoyable." This type of language has been positively characterized as "an untrammeled flow of logorrhea: plain words, fancy words, space-age words, Victorian words and words that defy the dictionary" by
187:. In terms of production, Wellman experiments with stage direction. Some directions are spoken and others are not, blurring the line between action and direction. Wellman notes, "That's something I'm really interested in. I like it when people talk about what's going on in a play. Sometimes it's more interesting than trying to enact everything."
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Wellman's plays frequently resemble a moving collage of events which has more in common with an avant-garde dance production than
Broadway-style theater. Wellman has stated, "More and more I think all theater is site-specific. When plays work, they work in the space." Helen Shaw wrote, "Since a 1984
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playwrighter, author, and poet. He is best known for his experimental work in the theater which rebels against theatrical conventions, often abandoning such traditional elements as plot and character altogether. In 1990, he received an
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During the late seventies
Wellman moved to New York City and married a Dutch journalist, Yolanda Gerritsen. Wellman continued writing poetry and plays, and in 1977 published a collection of poetry,
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essay, 'The
Theatre of Good Intentions', has been the cynosure in a heaven full of experimental playwrights who rail against what Jonathan Lear, in his book
136:, Wellman began a collaboration with Annemarie Prins, a Dutch theatrical director/producer whom he had first met during his junior year in college, creating
132:, he earned a master's degree in English focusing on poetry. After teaching several years, he sought professional renewal by touring Europe. In
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Wellman, Mac. "A Chrestomathy of 22 Answers to 22 Wholly
Unaskable and Unrelated Questions Concerning Political and Poetic Theater."
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112:. He has received a Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers Award, and the 2003 Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as the
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Munk, Erika. "The
Difficulty of Defending a Form: David Lang and Mac Wellman, Interviewed by Erika Munk."
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348:"Mac Wellman and the Language Poets: Chaos Writing and the General Economy of Language"
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604:"Mac Wellman Explains, Or Doesn't Explain, What Is Near And What Is Far"
128:, marrying his first wife, Nancy Roesch, the same year. Moving to the
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308:. In 1990, he received an Obie Award for Best New American Play (for
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In 1967 Wellman earned a baccalaureat
International Relations at the
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Perpendicular to the
Aristotelian: The Speculations of Mac Wellman
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In addition to several collaborations with composer/percussionist
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of the Non-Euclidean
Character: Wellman, Jenkin and Strindberg".
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Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, 2008. 293–342.
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Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, 2008. vii–xii.
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Mac Wellman papers, additions, 1979–2008 (bulk 2000–2008)
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Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. 1–16.
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Grants to Artists award (2003). He is a co-founder of
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Simpson, Jim, artistic dir. Mac Wellman, co-founder.
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Shaw, Helen. "Mac Wellman and Things of the Devil."
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Wellman is the I. Fine Professor of Play Writing at
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The Difficulty of Crossing a Field: Nine New Plays.
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624:Helen Shaw. Mac Wellman and Things of the Devil.
587:New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts.
464:Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008.
264:Description Beggared or the Allegory of WHITENESS
745:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
458:Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.
720:New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
662:"Review/Theater; Family Life Colored by Meance"
320:). In 1991, he received another Obie Award for
108:). In 1991, he received another Obie Award for
168:, called a 'tyranny' of 'the already known'."
456:The Bad Infinity: Eight Plays by Mac Wellman.
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140:. In 1975 they directed a stage production,
144:, at Theatre de Brakke Grand in Amsterdam.
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718:held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,
328:for Lifetime Achievement, as well as the
670:. May 20, 1994. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
408:. Los Angeles: Three Pigeons Publishing.
352:Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism
300:, New York Foundation for the Arts, the
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440:Speculations: An Essay on the Theater.
651:. Fall 1995. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
602:Harnetiaux, Trish (October 3, 2011).
482:Speculations: An Essay on the Theater
446:Speculations: An Essay on the Theater
292:, adapted from a very short story by
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60:Playwrighter, author, poet, educator
626:The Difficulty of Crossing a Field.
450:The Difficulty of Crossing a Field.
421:The Difficulty of Crossing a Field.
280:in the 1990s, he collaborated with
467:"The Theatre of Good Intentions."
296:. He has received grants from the
290:The Difficulty of Crossing a Field
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702:MacWellman.com – Official website
682:"In Dialogue: Mac Makes an Opera"
680:Walat, Kathryn (September 2006).
434:Cellophane: Plays by Mac Wellman.
379:Erickson, Jon (Fall 1998). "The
330:Foundation for Contemporary Arts
304:, the McKnight Foundation and a
116:Grants to Artists award (2003).
114:Foundation for Contemporary Arts
96:for Best New American Play (for
298:National Endowment for the Arts
585:Mac Wellman papers, 1959–1999.
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712:Mac Wellman papers, 1959–1999
630:University of Minnesota Press
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87:(born March 7, 1945), is an
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416:32.2 (Summer 2002), 56–61.
171:Discussing his style with
155:was produced in New York.
151:, while in 1979 his play,
404:Masterman, Glynn (2009).
750:Brooklyn College faculty
469:Performing Arts Journal
130:University of Wisconsin
346:Appler, Keith (2010).
302:Rockefeller Foundation
755:Obie Award recipients
397:10.1353/mdr.1998.0066
364:10.1353/dtc.2010.0007
306:Guggenheim Fellowship
288:in 2006 on the opera
85:John McDowell Wellman
557:Experimental theatre
448:(abridged version).
191:Professional credits
149:In Praise of Secrecy
120:Personal development
606:. The Brooklyn Rail
126:American University
760:Postmodern theatre
667:The New York Times
641:Yablonsky, Linda.
502:Elizabeth LeCompte
471:8.3 (1984), 59–70.
336:in New York City.
180:The New York Times
18:American dramatist
686:The Brooklyn Rail
522:Richard Schechner
507:The Wooster Group
497:Performing Garage
442:January 20, 2009.
428:The Flea Theater.
322:Sincerity Forever
278:David Van Tieghem
258:Second-Hand Smoke
210:The Self-Begotten
142:Fama Combinatoria
110:Sincerity Forever
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562:Avant-garde
166:Open Minded
138:radio plays
65:Nationality
25:Mac Wellman
729:Categories
568:References
542:Intermedia
527:Happenings
326:Obie Award
286:David Lang
246:7 Blowjobs
204:Harm's Way
153:Starluster
94:Obie Award
57:Occupation
37:1945-03-07
610:August 1,
372:161778658
310:Bad Penny
284:composer
234:Whirligig
183:reviewer
98:Bad Penny
476:See also
159:Writings
89:American
69:American
414:Theater
318:Crowbar
240:Crowbar
228:Dracula
106:Crowbar
714:, and
537:Fluxus
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316:, and
272:(2001)
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206:(1978)
104:, and
368:S2CID
75:Genre
612:2012
31:Born
393:doi
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