James C. Nicola and Marina Kellen French to receive Erwin Piscator Awards on March 30, 2017

Dear Friends,

Two days ago, on December 17, we commemorated the 123rd anniversary of Erwin Piscator’s birth. Born in 1893 in a small village near Wetzlar, Germany, Piscator quickly made headlines in 1920s Berlin with his groundbreaking theatre productions. During the artistically fertile years of the Weimar Republic, Erwin Piscator founded the political and epic theatre and earned a reputation as one of the most innovative theater impresarios and producers far beyond Germany. After Hitler’s rise to power, Piscator fled and eventually found exile in New York where he founded and ran the Dramatic Workshop at the New School for Social Research teaching a whole generation of first-class American artists, among them Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando, Judith Malina, Tony Randall, Elaine Stritch, and Tennessee Williams. In the 1960s, Piscator again made theater history as the artistic director of the Freie Volksbühne (Free People’s Theater) in West Berlin, where he directed the world premieres of Rolf Hochhuth’s The Deputy and Peter Weiss’s The Investigation.

Piscator strongly believed that “art only achieves its purpose when it contributes to the improvement of man.” Since 1986, the Annual Erwin Piscator Award has been presented to artists, who, by means of their arts, are contributing to the improvement of mankind.

As the founder of the Erwin Piscator Award Society and chairman of the Erwin Piscator Award it is my great pleasure to announce the recipients of the Erwin Piscator Awards 2017:

James C. Nicola

James C. Nicola will be presented with the Erwin Piscator Award 2017 for his enormous contributions to the American theater by producing and cultivating artists whose works inspire and challenge the public. Since 1988 he has been artistic director of New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW). Under his guidance, NYTW has remained steadfast to its founding commitment of nurturing both established and emerging theatre artists, promoting collaboration and bold experimentation with theatrical forms. As artistic director, Mr. Nicola has been instrumental in the development of many of NYTW world premieres, including Once; Peter and the Starcatcher; Jonathan Larson’s Rent; Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s Aftermath; Claudia Shear’s Blown Sideways through Life and Dirty Blonde; and Will Power’s The Seven, as well as the American premieres of Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest, Far Away, and A Number; and Doug Wright’s Quills and Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul. Mr. Nicola fueled his love of theatre during the early 1970s when he was an assistant director at The Young Vic/National Theatre of Great Britain and an assistant stage manager at London’s Royal Court Theatre.

Marina Kellen French

The philanthropist Marina Kellen French will receive the Honorary Erwin Piscator Award in memory of Maria Ley Piscator for her lifelong commitment and tireless dedication to support the arts and culture. Mrs. French has served on the Trustee Council of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., for 35 years. She has also served on the board of the Metropolitan Opera for 37 years, and served on the board of the Metropolitan Opera Guild.

After the death of her father Stephen Kellen in 2004, Mrs. French became a trustee of Carnegie Hall, continuing the family’s tradition: For the past 34 years the Kellens through their foundation have made it possible for the Berlin Philharmonic to come to New York and give concerts at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. At the initiative of Clive Gillinson Marina became involved as one of the founding patrons to launch the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.

As a trustee at the American Academy in Berlin, which is housed in the childhood home of her mother Anna-Maria Kellen, Mrs. French has endowed the Marina Kellen French Distinguished Visitorship for people with outstanding accomplishments in the cultural world.

In 2012 Mrs. French became a trustee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition, Marina is a life trustee of the Morgan Library and of Channel 13, and also serves on the Director’s Circle of the Frick Collection. In 2014, she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

We look forward to honoring these two outstanding personalities. The 30th Annual Erwin Piscator Award Ceremony will take place during a festive luncheon on Thursday, March 30, 2017, at the Lotos Club New York.

Invitations will be sent out separately.

With best regards,

Gregorij H. von Leitis