 The Neighborhood Playhouse was founded in 1915, at the dawn of the renaissance of the American theatre. Created by
two philanthropic sisters, Alice and Irene Lewisohn, the original Playhouse was one of the first "Off-Broadway" theatres,
located on the Lower East Side as part of the famous Henry Street Settlement House. Committed to the community and devoted
to renewing the roots of drama in ritual, pageant, song and dance, the Playhouse mounted works ranging from the ancient to the modern.
The Neighborhood Playhouse Theatre closed in 1927 and The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre was founded in 1928 by the two Lewisohn sisters in association with Rita Wallach Morgenthau. The school grew out of the desire to realize what had not been possible at the Playhouse, its purpose to further the type of training developed at the Theatre for its specialized and experimental productions---productions which reflected the concept of theatre as an organic expression of life interpreted through a fusion of the arts. The informal organization, starting with a modest nine students, soon attracted more students from many parts of the country seeking professional training in the theatre. Even the first small group had the privilege of being taught by such theatre luminaries as Martha Graham, Louis Horst, Laura Elliott, Agnes DeMille and others. In 1935, Sanford Meisner joined the faculty and, over the years, this founding member of The Group Theatre developed and refined what is now known as the "Meisner Technique." Based on some of the original theories and principles of the great Russian teacher-director, Constantine Stanislavsky, and his work with The Moscow Art Theatre, the Meisner Technique is a step-by-step procedure of self-investigation for the actor. Mr. Meisner retired in 1990 and was appointed Director Emeritus of the Acting Department. All of the Acting faculty have studied under Mr. Meisner. He passed away in February of 1997. Rita Wallach Morgenthau was Director of the school from 1928 until her retirement in 1963, when the Board of Directors appointed Paul Morrison as her successor. In 1981, after Mr. Morrison's demise, Harold G. Baldridge was appointed Director of the school. Eighty-two years after its founding, the school continues to offer the actor-in-training a means of investigating and expanding the range of his or her instrument in a full-time conservatory atmosphere that concentrates on the artistic growth of the actor through a fusion of technical training in acting, movement, speech/voice and singing combined with a deeper understanding of the cultural values underlying a life devoted to the highest and most demanding artistic principles. The school develops the person, as well as the actor.  |
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