Travis Preston

Travis Preston is an American director and theater artist known for his staging of classical and contemporary operas and plays. He is the Artistic Director of the CalArts Center for New Performance and Dean of the CalArts School of Theater. His notable works include Prometheus Bound, The Master Builder, Brewsie and Willie, Macbeth and King Lear.[1]

Travis Preston
BornSeptember 20, 1957
East Chicago, Indiana
NationalityAmerican
EducationYale School of Drama
Known forVisual/Theater Artist, Performance Art
WebsiteTravis Preston CalArts

Background

Preston was born in September 1957 in East Chicago, Indiana. He applied for Yale School of Drama while working on his Ph.D. in psychology Indiana University.[2] He began his career by directing Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound in 1980 at Wrocławski Teatr Współczesny in Poland.

Career

In 2017, Preston directed Fantômas: Revenge of the Image and staged it at the Wuzhen Theatre Festival in China.[3] He also directed and produced Sam Shepard’s Buried Child for the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre.[4]

In 2013, Preston revisited Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, staging it at the Getty Villa at the Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman outdoor Amphitheater.[5] For the play, he and set designer Efren Delgadillo Jr, employed a 23-foot-tall rotating steel wheel symbolizing time and representing the protagonist being bound to a mountaintop, as per the Greek tragedy.[5]

Preston was appointed as the Artistic Director of the CalArts Center for New Performance[6] in 2005 and Dean of the CalArts School of Theater[7] in August 2010.[8] In the same year, he directed Ibsen's The Master Builder at the Almeida Theatre in London, starring Gemma Arterton and Stephen Dillane.[9][10]

In 2005, Preston directed Stephen Dillane in the popular Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth (A Modern Ecstasy). In the play, he explored the inner landscape of Macbeth's soul and staged this one performer drama in a minimalist set at REDCAT in Disney Hall.[11][12] The play was also performed at the Almeida Theater in London and at the Sydney and Adelaide Festivals in Australia.[13]

Preston has been teaching faculty at universities and theater training programs including The Yale School of Drama, Columbia School of the Arts, New York University, the National Theater School of Denmark, Indiana University, Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, and Harvard University.[8]

Notable work
  • Fantômas: Revenge of the Image – 2017
  • Buried Child - 2017
  • Prometheus Bound - 2013[14]
  • The Master Builder - 2010
  • Brewsie and Willie - 2010
  • Ah! – 2009
  • Macbeth (A Modern Ecstasy) – 2005[15]
  • Bell Solaris: Twelve Metamorphoses in Piano Theater – 2004
  • Boris Godounov - 2004
  • King Lear – 2002[15]
  • Al Gran Gran Sole Carico D’Amore – 1999[16]
  • Lulu - 1996[16]

Recognition

In 2006, Preston was awarded Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture.[17]

gollark: I feel like self help is an incredibly overdone genre.
gollark: Yes, they worsen performance each update.
gollark: The mod.
gollark: I think 1.7.10 has realistic terrain generation or something.
gollark: How "based".

References
  1. Lifestyle. "Spotlight on Travis Preston, Theater Director". Our Culture Magazine. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  2. Loewenstein, Melinda. "Artistic Director Travis Preston On the Challenges of Directing". www.backstage.com. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  3. Zhou, Raymond. "A Bystander to the Darkness of Evil". www.critical-stages.org. Critical Stages.
  4. Emerson, Whit. ""Buried Child" in Hong Kong: Disparate Americana". The Theatre Times. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  5. McNulty, Charles. "Review: 'Prometheus Bound' is a graceful revival at Getty Villa". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  6. Editors. "CalArts Center for New Performance Announces Season". AmericanTheatre.org. Retrieved 26 September 2019.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  7. Martin, Hugo. "Want to design theme park attractions? CalArts has a new degree for you". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  8. "Travis Preston Appointed Dean of California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) School of Theater". www.stage-directions.com. Stage Directions. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
  9. Taylor, Paul. "The Master Builder, Almeida Theatre, London". The Independent. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
  10. Billington, Michael. "The Master Builder – review". The Guardian. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
  11. Swed, Mark. "Actor grabs Macbeth by throat". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  12. Breslauer, Jan. "Macbeth with no lady?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 21, 2004.
  13. Billington, Michael. "Macbeth". The Guardian. Retrieved October 29, 2005.
  14. "Preston's Prometheus Bound Brings Poetic Revolution to Getty Villa". www.thisstage.la. LA Stage Alliance. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  15. Margolies, Dany. "Stephen Dillane & Travis Preston". www.backstage.com. Backstage. Retrieved November 24, 2004.
  16. Breslaur, Jan. "Spark of the new". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 9, 2002.
  17. Looseleaf, Victoria. "A New Spin on 'Prometheus Bound'". www.kcet.org. Public Media Group of Southern California. Retrieved September 4, 2013.


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