{{Short description|Experimental theater company, NY, NY, US (since 1975)}} {{Infobox theatre group | name = The Wooster Group | image = Performing Garage 33 Wooster Street.jpg | image_size = | caption = The Performing Garage in 2014 | formed = 1975 | disbanded = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | genre = | location = New York City, New York, United States | num_members = | artistic_director = Elizabeth LeCompte | notable = | website = {{URL|http://thewoostergroup.org}} }} '''The Wooster Group''' is an experimental theater company based in New York City known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group (1967–1980) during the period from 1975 to 1980. The group took its name in 1980; the independent productions of 1975–1980 are retroactively attributed to the group.<ref name=WG-Chrono>Wooster Group, [http://www.thewoostergroup.org/twg/chrono.html "Production History since 1975"].</ref>
The ensemble is directed by Elizabeth LeCompte and it launched the careers of many actors including founding member Willem Dafoe. The group's home is the Performing Garage at 33 Wooster Street between Grand and Broome Streets in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. As of 2014, the company consists of 16 members. In addition, there are 29 "Associates".<ref name=about />
The Wooster Group is a not-for-profit theater company that relies on grants and donations from supporters. It has received multiple grants from the Carnegie Corporation. The group is characterized by its extremely experimental style, often incorporating aspects of audiovisual such as interactive video art, live stream, recorded sound, and pre-recorded video into their performance work. Their performances are often of classic texts like Brecht, Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Eugene O'Neill.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/theater/elizabeth-lecompte-of-the-wooster-group-wins-the-gish-prize.html|title=Elizabeth LeCompte of the Wooster Group Wins the Gish Prize|last=Schuessler|first=Jennifer|date=2016-09-28|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2017-01-14}}</ref>
Past collaborators with the group include Ken Kobland, Jim Strahs, Richard Foreman, Trisha Brown, John Lurie, Bruce Odland, Jennifer Tipton, Frances McDormand, Hans Peter Kuhn, and Amir ElSaffar among others.<ref name=history></ref>
== Founding members == Source:<ref name=":0">[http://thewoostergroup.org/twg/twg.php?company "About the Company:Founding and Original Members"] on the Wooster Group website</ref> {{div col|colwidth=12em}} * Elizabeth LeCompte * Jim Clayburgh * Kate Valk * Peyton Smith * Ron Vawter (d. 1994)<ref name=about>{{cite web |title=Ron Vawter Papers, 1963-1994 |url=http://archives.nypl.org/the/21621 |publisher=New York Public Library |accessdate=11 June 2014}}</ref> * Spalding Gray (d. 2004) * Willem Dafoe {{div col end}}
== Current company == Source:<ref name=":0" /> {{div col|colwidth=12em}} * Andrew Maillet * Alexandre Artaud * Ari Fliakos * Aaron Amodt * Clay Hapaz * Cynthia Hedstrom * Elizabeth LeCompte * Eric Sluyter * Jonathan Hull * Kate Valk * Michaela Murphy * Matthias Neckermann * Mike Farry * Monika Wunderer * Scott Shepherd * Tavish Miller * Yudam Hyung Seok Jeon {{div col end}}
==Awards and honors== The Wooster Group has won nine Obie Awards, six Bessie Awards, and the 1985 National Endowment for the Arts Ongoing Ensembles Grant.<ref name=history>[http://thewoostergroup.org/twg/twg.php?history "History:Selected Awards"] on the Wooster Group website</ref>
== Further reading == * {{cite magazine|last1=Gordon |first1=David |author1-link=David Gordon (novelist) |title=[Letter from SoHo] The Forty-Year Rehearsal – The Wooster Group's endless work in progress |magazine=Harper's |date=January 2020 |volume=340 |issue=2036 |pages=53–64 |url=https://harpers.org/archive/2020/01/the-forty-year-rehearsal-wooster-group-elizabeth-lecompte/ |access-date=21 August 2022 |publisher=Harper's Magazine Foundation |location=New York, NY, US |issn=0017-789X}} * Quick, Andrew. ''The Wooster Group Workbook'', London: Routledge, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-415-35334-2}} * Savran, David. ''Breaking the Rules: The Wooster Group''. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1990. {{ISBN|0-930452-82-8}}
==References== {{Portal|Theatre|New York City|United States}} {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{wikiversity|Performance art}} * {{Official website|http://www.thewoostergroup.org/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooster Group, The}} Category:American artist groups and collectives Category:Performance art in New York City Category:Postmodern theatre Category:Theatre companies in New York City Category:Performing groups established in 1975 Category:1975 establishments in New York City Category:Arts organizations based in New York City