Arthur Miller and the Group Theatre: Creative Interaction and Life Intersections

Abstract

The article concerns the issues of collaboration of the distinguished American playwright A. Miller and actors of the most significant US theatre in the 1930s — the Group Theatre. The author investigates the influence of the artistic and socially-charged activity of the Group on the formation of Arthur Miller’s creative outlook. The article looks at the main periods of the dramatist’s cooperation with members of the Group: from playwriting specifically for this theatre to the staging of Miller’s drama on Broadway after the Group’s dissolution. Special attention is paid to the issues of the creative and personal relationship of the playwright and participants of this theatre during the tragic era of the political witch hunt in the USA during the 1950s. Analysis of the Group’s activity and its artistic interaction with A. Miller allows for the expansion of the perception about the creative life of the playwright, famous in our country, as well as about the cultural and political events in America in the 1930s to 1950s. Refs 27.