Circle in the Square

Circle in the Square (New York). The company was founded in 1950 as an offshoot of the Loft Players of Woodstock, New York, under the direction of José Quintero in association with Theodore Mann and others. The postwar fascination with arena‐style stages had begun, and the company was one of the first to use the new form effectively at their tiny theatre on Sheridan Square. Their opening production was Dark of the Moon (1951), but it was the mounting of Summer and Smoke (1952) that brought them recognition and established Geraldine Page as an important actress. Their 1956 revival of The Iceman Cometh caused critics to reevaluate both the drama and Eugene O'Neill, rekindling an interest in his works. It also gave major impetus to the career of Jason Robards Jr. A later revival of Children of Darkness (1959) helped propel George C. Scott to stardom. The downtown theatre is often credited for establishing Off Broadway as a potent and influential force in New York theatregoing. When their original premises were demolished in 1960, the company moved to Bleecker Street and continued to present neglected classics, foreign works, and new plays. In 1972 a new theatre, also called Circle in the Square, was built on 50th Street in the same complex as the Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre. The company retains the downtown space and occasionally presents plays there, but mostly it is rented to others. The uptown theatre is Broadway's only flexible theatre, seating about 650, depending on whether a thrust stage or an arena‐style setup is used. The new home allowed the company to present bigger productions than they could downtown (the theatre opened with a revival of O'Neill's trilogy Mourning Become Electra), but the economics of being a Broadway house put the nonprofit group in a financial quandary that for decades they have never resolved. Some seasons saw stunning revivals; others saw the house dark much of the time. It is a problematic space, but on occasion astute designers and directors have managed to create a thrilling theatrical environment not possible in a traditional Broadway house.