A Man of the Theatre

Robert Brustein to Deliver 2004 Lowell Lecture

Robert Brustein

Robert Brustein, distinguished man of the theatre, will present this year's Lowell Lecture, The Theatre as a Secular Faith, in early October.

Throughout a career that spans more than 40 years, Dr. Brustein has demonstrated his versatility as a director, adaptor, actor, playwright, professor, and critic. The founding director of the Yale Repertory and American Repertory Theatres, he has been dean of the Yale Drama School, professor of English at Harvard University, director of the Loeb Drama Center, and drama critic of The New Republic. He has supervised more than 200 productions, acted in 8, and directed 12, including his adaptations of The Father, Ghosts, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and Lysistrata. He wrote Nobody Dies on Friday and adapted the musical Shlemiel the First.

Robert Brustein is the author of 13 books on theatre and society, including Reimagining American Theatre, The Theatre of Revolt, Making Scenes (a memoir of his Yale years), Who Needs Theatre (a collection of reviews and essays), Dumbocracy in America, and Cultural Calisthenics. His latest book, The Siege of the Arts, was released last year.

Among his many honors, Dr. Brustein is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and recently he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.

The Lowell Lecture takes place in the Harvard Science Center at 8 pm on Tuesday, October 5.