Marion McClinton
Encyclopedia
Marion McClinton is a theatre director and playwright. He was nominated for the Tony Award
for King Hedley II
. He won the 2000 Vivian Robinson Audelco Black Theatre Awards, Director/Dramatic Production and the 1999–2000 Obie Awards, Direction, for Jitney
, and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award
.
He has directed most of August Wilson
's plays, both on Broadway
and regionally, and has been termed "One of the leading Wilson directors". The first premiere of Wilson's works that he directed was King Hedley II
in 2001, taking over from the then-retired Lloyd Richards
as Wilson's director.
He is an associate artist at Center Stage
, Baltimore
, Maryland, where he has directed several Wilson plays as well as Les Blancs and Splash Hatch on the E Going Down. He has directed at, among others, the Pittsburgh Public Theater
(several Wilson plays), Guthrie Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival
, and Playwrights Horizons
. At the Goodman Theater he directed a staged reading of Fences as part of the Goodman's August Wilson Celebration in February 2007. He had previously directed King Hedley II, Gem of the Ocean and Jitney at the Goodman.
He is directing an Off-Broadway
production of Pure Confidence in May 2009 as part of Americas Off Broadway Festival.
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for King Hedley II
King Hedley II
King Hedley II is a play by American playwright August Wilson, the ninth in his ten-part series, The Pittsburgh Cycle. This is the ninth of the plays in Wilson's ten-play cycle, each from a different era...
. He won the 2000 Vivian Robinson Audelco Black Theatre Awards, Director/Dramatic Production and the 1999–2000 Obie Awards, Direction, for Jitney
Jitney (play)
Jitney is a play in two acts by August Wilson. The eighth in The Pittsburgh Cycle, this play is set in a worn-down gypsy cab station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in early autumn 1977.-Productions:...
, and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
.
He has directed most of August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
's plays, both on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and regionally, and has been termed "One of the leading Wilson directors". The first premiere of Wilson's works that he directed was King Hedley II
King Hedley II
King Hedley II is a play by American playwright August Wilson, the ninth in his ten-part series, The Pittsburgh Cycle. This is the ninth of the plays in Wilson's ten-play cycle, each from a different era...
in 2001, taking over from the then-retired Lloyd Richards
Lloyd Richards
Lloyd George Richards was a Canadian-American theatre director, actor, and dean of the Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1991, and Yale University professor emeritus.- Biography :...
as Wilson's director.
He is an associate artist at Center Stage
Center Stage (theater)
Center Stage is the state theater of Maryland and Baltimore's largest professional producing theater. Center Stage was founded in 1963 as a regional playhouse....
, Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland, where he has directed several Wilson plays as well as Les Blancs and Splash Hatch on the E Going Down. He has directed at, among others, the Pittsburgh Public Theater
Pittsburgh Public Theater
Pittsburgh Public Theater is a professional theater company based in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Cultural District.Established in 1974, it was housed in the Hazlett Theatre at the Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall on Pittsburgh’s North Side...
(several Wilson plays), Guthrie Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival
Alabama Shakespeare Festival
The Alabama Shakespeare Festival is the seventh largest Shakespeare festival in the world. Each year, it attracts more than 300,000 visitors from throughout the United States and more than 60 countries, to its home in Montgomery, Alabama....
, and Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
. At the Goodman Theater he directed a staged reading of Fences as part of the Goodman's August Wilson Celebration in February 2007. He had previously directed King Hedley II, Gem of the Ocean and Jitney at the Goodman.
He is directing an Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production of Pure Confidence in May 2009 as part of Americas Off Broadway Festival.
Works (selected)
- Jitney (2000 off-Broadway) - Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Director of a Play nominee
- King Hedley IIKing Hedley IIKing Hedley II is a play by American playwright August Wilson, the ninth in his ten-part series, The Pittsburgh Cycle. This is the ninth of the plays in Wilson's ten-play cycle, each from a different era...
(2001 Broadway) Tony Award, Best Direction of a Play nominee - Ma Rainey's Black BottomMa Rainey's Black BottomMa Rainey's Black Bottom is a 1982 play - one of the ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle by August Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright - that chronicles the twentieth century African American experience...
(2003 Broadway) - Gem of the OceanGem of the OceanGem of the Ocean is a play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the first installment of his decade-by-decade, ten-play chronicle, The Pittsburgh Cycle, dramatizing the African-American experience in the twentieth century.-Plot :...
(2003 World premiere, Goodman Theater) - Drowning Crow (2004 Broadway)
- Elmina's Kitchen (American premiere, 2005, Center Stage)