Barbara Vann was an American theatre director and actor, best known for co-founding the Off-Off-Broadway company the Medicine Show Theater Ensemble, one of the longest continually running experimental theater companies in New York City.
10 Facts About Barbara Vann
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Barbara Vann was a founding member of The Open Theater, an early, New York City-based experimental theater group.
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Barbara Vann led the Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble for 45 years until her death in August 2015.
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At the Medicine Show Theatre, Barbara Vann directed Bound to Rise, based on the Horatio Alger story, which led to a 1985 Obie Award in direction.
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Barbara Vann contributed reworkings of Alfred Jarry's Ubu plays; a stage adaption of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake; a translation of Jean Genet's The Balcony; and the original vaudeville piece, "Mr Shakespeare and Mr Porter", which incorporated Cole Porter songs into Shakespearean tragedies.
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Barbara Vann published a series of workshop videos demonstrating the experimental techniques developed for the Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble.
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Barbara Vann taught at Smith College, Amherst College, Yale University and Colgate University.
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Barbara Vann taught and led master classes at more than 80 universities in North America and on five European tours.
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Barbara Vann was survived by her daughter, Regan and two grandchildren.
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Barbara Vann was the recipient of the 1985 Obie Award for Direction, which she received for her work on the production, Bound to Rise, based on the Horatio Alger story.