Jean-Claude Van Itallie (1936–2021)

Author of America Hurrah.

About the Author

Van Itallie was born in Brussels and grew up in Great Neck, New York, which, he says, "left me with a horror of the American suburbs." After graduating from Harvard University, he got involved with the Open Theatre group under the direction of Joe Chaikin, producing as a result some of the most show more stunning and innovative experimental theater work of the 1960s, especially America Hurrah, a 1965 trilogy consisting of Interview, TV, and Motel, and The Serpent, a 1968 ritualistic and largely mimed theatrical piece that grew out of improvisations on Genesis and juxtaposes biblical events with current ones. Van Itallie's plays of the 1970s, which include A Fable and Bag Lady, have been more traditional in form and simpler in scope, and he has also adapted several of Chekhov's (see Vol. 2) plays. In 1983 he returned to the mode of The Serpent in The Tibetan Book of the Dead, but with notably less success. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Jean Cl Van Itallie, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Jean Claude Van Itallie, Van Jean-Claude Itallie, Jean-Claude Itallie (Van)

Works by Jean-Claude Van Itallie

Popular Recent

America Hurrah. (1968) 56 copies, 1 review

America Hurrah and Other Plays (1978) 37 copies

The Serpent. (1971) 37 copies

The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Reading Aloud (1998) 23 copies, 1 review

War and Four Other Plays - Acting Edition (1967) 15 copies

Mystery Play. (1973) 12 copies

Bag Lady (1980) 11 copies

Seven Short and Very Short Plays - Acting Edition (1973) 10 copies

The King of the United States (1975) 5 copies

Chekhov: The Major Plays (Applause Books) (2000) 4 copies

Tibetan Book of the Dead or How Not To Do It Again (1983) 3 copies

War and Four Other Plays (1634) 3 copies

Interview 2 copies

America hurrah 2 copies

Early Warnings: Sunset Freeway and Final Orders. (1983) 2 copies

Almost Like Being (in America Hurrah and Other Plays) 2 copies

A Fable (1976) 2 copies

Motel 2 copies

TV 2 copies

The king of the United States 1 copy

Seven short and very short plays 1 copy

The Hunter And The Bird 1 copy

War (in America Hurrah and Other Plays) 1 copy

The New Underground Theatre 1 copy

PAJ #21 - The Open Theatre: Looking Back 1 copy

PAJ: Winter 1977 - Volume I, No. 3 1 copy

War, and four other plays 1 copy

America Hurrah : [plays] 1 copy

A Fable 1 copy

Hoera Amerika 1 copy

It's Almost Like Being 1 copy

cf0 The Tibetan Book of the Dead 1 copy

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Associated Works

The New Underground Theatre (1968) — Contributor — 44 copies, 1 review

Gay Plays (Ubu Repertory Theater Publications) (1989) — Playwright — 12 copies

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Common Knowledge

Birthdate: 1936-05-25
Date of death: 2021-09-09
Gender: male
Education: Deerfield Academy, Massachusetts
Harvard University
Occupations: actor
playwright
translator
teacher
Organizations: Open Theater
Shantigar Foundation (founder)
Short biography: Seminal avant-garde Belgian-American playwright, performer, and master teacher. Fled the Holocaust to the United States in 1940. Graduated from Harvard University in 1958. Served as a core force of Off-Off-Broadway at La MaMa and principal dramaturg for Joseph Chaikin's Open Theater, penning the landmark anti-war epic America Hurrah and ensemble masterwork The Serpent. Transformed his Massachusetts farm into the Shantigar Foundation for Theater, Meditation, and Healing. Explicitly self-identified as an out gay creator.
Cause of death: pneumonia
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Brussels, Belgium
Places of residence: Brussels, Belgium
Great Neck, New York, USA
Manhattan, New York, USA
Rowe, Massachusetts, USA
Place of death: Manhattan, New York, USA
Associated Place (for map): New York, USA

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2 reviews

kaulsu 1,256 reviews

The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Reading Aloud by Jean Claude Van Itallie

Excellent translation for westerners. Perfect for reading aloud. Enough background given in introduction to make the reading understandable. When reading aloud, allow the cadences to reach their natural ebb and flow.

May 20, 2008

gianoulinetti 504 reviews

America hurrah by Jean-Claude Van Itallie