Above, a candid shot of the Philadelphia audience - which I believe is from the opening night of Poor Bitos in February of 1966, at the moment when the lightbulbs flashed in their eyes to momentarily distract them during the set change at the end of Act One. However, this may also be from the December 1966 opening of the TLA production of Beclch, which had similar lighting effects. (Photo by Betty Nettis Bennett, from the collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia)
(By the way: A note from me, for anyone who has information about how to get better copies of any of these amazing images, and how to better preserve and promote the work of Betty Nettis Bennett, please contact me via this website.)
Below, another photo by Betty Nettis Bennett, this one of André Gregory in rehearsals at Theatre of the Living Arts, 1966.
Above, actress Lois Smith as Celimene in Moliere's The Misanthrope. (Collection of Free Library of Philadelphia).
Below, Ron Liebman (Clov) and David Hurst (Hamm) in Beckett's Endgame, May 1965.
George Bartenieff (Bitos) being confronted by Anthony Zerbe (St. Juste) in Poor Bitos in February 1966. Behind them, sitting in front of the table can be seen Sally Kirkland as Marie Antoinette and Flora Elkins as Mme. Tallien. (Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia)
As an example of the sort of buzz that André Gregory's work was generating elsewhere, here is an article from the Herald Tribune News Service by Stuart Little, entitled "Philadelphia Theater Attracting Notice of Top Writers, Actors" - as it was reprinted in the Dayton, Ohio Journal-Herald in March of 1966. My favorite bit from this article is at the very end, where an (unnamed) actress in the TLA company is quoted as saying:
"The Philadelphia audiences are like children wanting to be taught. They aren't hip to an awful lot that we are doing, but they come and sit deathly silent and are fascinated."
Finally, a photo from the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, promoting the final show of the TLA's second season, Saul Bellow's The Last Analysis. The photo seems to have been taken on stage, with the bare walls of the theater visible behind.
David Hurst, as the main character "Bummy" Bummidge, is seated on the ladder. In the front row are Jerry Dempsey, Lois Smith and Anthony Zerbe. Also in the company were Sylvia Gassel, Sally Kirkland, Ron Liebman, Ruth Baker, Miriam Phillips, Flora Elkins and Tom Brannum.
The reviews for the show in local papers were generally complementary. Bellow’s “characters spring to full theatrical life,” wrote Henry Murdoch in the Inquirer. Still, he admitted, it was a “loquacious” play, and “took its own good time” getting to the eventual and stirring climax.
Though on the whole he also appreciated the acting and direction of the TLA production, the New York-based theater critic Julius Novick was less kind about the distinguished novelist's script itself: "Mr. Bellow's foray into farce reminds me of the essay in which T.S. Eliot longed to be a music-hall clown, so that he could really reach the masses. I thought when I saw the play in New York, and again when I saw it in Philadelphia, that Mr. Bellow was slumming."
Selected Bibliography:
Books
Brook, Peter, The Empty Space, Atheneum (Fifth Printing), 1983, pp. 21-23.
Gregory, Andre and Todd London, This Is Not My Memoir, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2020.
London, Todd, An Ideal Theater: Founding Visions for a New American Art, Theatre Communications Group, 2013, pp. 355-358.
Novick, Julius, Beyond Broadway: The Quest for Permanent Theatres (Dramabook Edition), Hill and Wang, 1969.
Newspaper Articles (in chronological order)
"Living Theatre To Grow Bigger," by Jerry Gaghan, Philadelphia Daily News, April 22, 1965, p. 47.
"Classic Cavorts on South St.," by Jerry Gaghan, Philadelphia Daily News, March 17, 1965, p. 27.
"Modern Dress and Pace Mark Misanthrope," by Henry Murdock, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 17, 1965, p. 24.
"Beckett Play Opens at Yale," The Hartford Courant, September 18, 1965, p. 61.
"Philadelphia's Theater Attracting Notice of Top Writers, Directors," by Stuart W. Little (Herald Tribune News Service), Dayton Journal-Herald, March 15, 1966, p. 15.
"Living Arts Plans New Theater, Gives Actors Year-Round Jobs," The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, March 17, 1966, p. 30.
"Theatrical Success Story," Philadelphia Daily News, March 19, 1966, p. 13.
"The Impact of Marat/Sade," by R.H. Gardner, The Sun, Baltimore, March 20, 1966.
"Theatres That Came To Stay," by Stanley Kauffmann, The New York Times, April 3, 1966, pp. 404, 406.
"Living Arts Group To Play at Yale," Philadelphia Inquirer, May 29, 1966, p. 56.
"That's Show Business," by Barbara L. Wilson, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 23, 1966, p. 20.
Archival Documents (Theatre Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia)
Goldman, Frederick, "Theatre of the Living Arts" (typescript).
McLaughlin, Patricia, "Theatre of the Living Arts: The Early Years of Philadelphia's First Resident Theater." Prepared as a report to a meeting of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, June 1991.
