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Albert Bermel Biography (1927-)

Addresses: Office: Department of Speech and Theatre, Herbert H. LehmanCollege, Bronx, NY, 10468; Agent: Elaine Markson, 44 Greenwich Avenue, New York, NY, 10011.

Mr. Bermel came to the United States in 1955 and became a naturalized citizenin 1962.

"Every playwright yearns to be a critic. Every critic yearns to be a playwright. Every theatre teacher yearns to be a director. I am not a director, but have otherwise tried to satisfy my yearnings--without having quite succeeded."

Nationality

English

Gender

Male

Occupation

critic, playwright

Birth Details

December 20, 1927

London, England

Famous Works

• Non-Theatrical Career
• Advertising and publicity copywriter, London, Montreal, Toronto, New York, 1951-56; freelance writer, New York, 1956-58; magazine and book editor, NewYork, 1958-60, 1961-63; freelance writer, New York, 1963-66; associate professor of theatre, Columbia University, 1966-72; associate professor, Herbert H. Lehman College, C.U.N.Y., 1972-75, professor of theatre, 1972-date; visiting professor, Rutgers, 1966-67, Juilliard School, 1972-73, S.U.N.Y., Purchase,1974; Columbia seminars, 1981-84.
• Plays, Published
• Six One-Act Farces (The Workout, 1963, The Adjustment, 1963, The Recovery, 1965; The Mountain Chorus, The Imp or Imps, 1970, The Seizure, 1970); One-Act Comedies of Molière (translations of The Jealous Husband, The Flying Doctor, Two Precious Maidens Ridiculed, Sganarelle, or The Imaginary Cuckold, The Rehearsal at Versailles,The Forced Marriage, The Seductive Countess); Three Popular French Comedies (translations of Beaumarchais, The Barber of Seville, Labiche, Pots of Money, Courteline, The Commissioner Has a Big Heart); The Playsof Courteline (including: Boubouroche, Hold On, Hortense, Afraid to Fight, Badin the Bold).
• Plays, Produced
• One Leg Over the Wall, Royal Court, London, 1960; Herod First, Saville, London, 1965; Thrombo, Columbia Summer Theatre, NY, 1968;Family Weather (The Terror of Suspension), House Theatre, NY, 1975; Thank Harry Miner; Backyard Utopias; Up and Up; Thirty Million Dollars(musical); translator, Ubu Cocu (by Jarry), Horatius (by Corneille).
• Books, Published
• The Genius of the French Theatre; Contradictory Characters: An Interpretation of the Modern Theatre; Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty; Farce: A History from Aristophanes to Woody Allen; August Strindberg.
• Article
• 130 essays for The New Leader, 1964-68, 1973-74; major periodicalsincluding: Harpers, The Nation, The New Republic, Shaw Review, Columbia Forum, N.Y. Times Book Review and Arts & Leisure Section, many others.
• Film Debut
• Screenplay, Run.
• Television
• Scenes and narrative, Shakespeare's Italy.