Peter Zeisler
Peter Zeisler, who served as executive director of Theatre Communications Group for 23 years and was a leading player in almost all the significant events that transformed the face of the American theatre from the 1950s to the present day, died on Jan. 16 in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., at the age of 81. The cause was heart failure.
Zeisler's
contributions to the field are immeasurable. His efforts and those
of a few others inspired an extraordinary national movement that
decentralized the American theatre forever.
He gave up a flourishing career as a stage manager in the commercial sector to join forces with Sir Tyrone Guthrie and Oliver Rea to found the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, the first major year-round classical theatre on American soil. As a founder of the League of Resident Theatres, he served as the first LORT president in 1967; in that capacity he negotiated the first LORT contract with Actors' Equity Association, a revolutionary concept that recognized the special artistic requirement of ongoing nonprofit theatre organizations. After serving as board president of TCG, he subsequently became executive director from 1972 to1995-a period in which he helped co-found the American Arts Alliance, the Washington-based advocacy organization, and in which many of the key structures of TCG were created, including TCG Books, American Theatre magazine, and more.
An expert in artistic, administrative and governance areas, Zeisler
was a gifted leader as well as an inspirational mentor for countless
others in the field. He promoted cultural diversity as an essential
ingredient in the theatre, emphasized the central importance of
the individual artist in a rapidly institutionalizing field, and
created the TCG National Conferences, designed to inspire sharing
of artistic viewpoints and societal concerns.
Since leaving TCG in 1995, Zeisler spent his time traveling widely and served as a consultant to foreign governments and theatre festivals in Europe, Asia and North and South America. He is survived by his wife, actress, Helen Harrelson, and two sons, Mark and Eric.
TCG hosted a memorial service for Peter Zeisler on Monday, February 28 at the Biltmore Theatre in New York. Speakers included Jane Alexander, actress and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts; Anne Bogart, artistic director of the SITI Company; Oskar Eustis, artistic director of The Public Theater; Zelda Fichandler, founder of Arena Stage and current director of NYU’s Graduate School of Acting; David Hawkanson, executive director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company; David Henry Hwang, playwright of such works as M. Butterfly and Golden Child; Ming Cho Lee, scenic designer and professor at Yale School of Drama; Rob Orchard, executive director of American Repertory Theatre; and Lloyd Richards, former dean of the Yale School of Drama and artistic director of Yale Repertory Theatre and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
Read transcripts from the memorial service.
In honor of Peter Zeisler, a fund has been established to support
programs for artists. Donations in his name can be made to Theatre
Communications Group, 520 Eighth Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY
10018-4156.