Lisa Kron

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Lisa Kron
Born May 20, 1961
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Elizabeth S. "Lisa" Kron (born May 20, 1961) is a Tony Award-nominated American actress and playwright.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Kron was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She jokes in one of her plays that her life began on her parents’ trip to Europe: “I was conceived in Venice, you know. (Well, not actually in Venice, but in the nearby town of Mestra where hotels are a lot cheaper.)”[1]

Her mother is Ann Kron, born in 1932 in Ohio. Ann is a former antiques dealer and community activist. In the 1960’s she founded the Westside Neighborhood Organization in Lansing, Michigan. In a time when neighborhood segregation was the norm, the WNO helped to bring people from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds together. Ann converted to Judaism when she married Lisa’s father Walter Kron.

Her father is Walter Kron, a retired lawyer born in Germany in 1922. He is Jewish and a Holocaust survivor. In 1937 as the Nazi persecution of the Jews escalated, his parents sent him out of Germany via the Kindertransport program. He went back to Germany after World War II, serving as a US army interrogator of Nazi war criminals. In the 1990’s Lisa and her father visited Auschwitz where his parents were murdered by the Nazis in the 1940s.

Her brother is David Kron, born in 1964. He is a sound engineer and is married with a son. He says of his sister: "She is very funny, with a very sharp wit...And she always had her own way of looking at things."[2]

In her play Well Lisa says that she felt like an outsider even in her own family because she, her parents and her brother David were the only Jews. Her maternal family is Christian and none of her Jewish paternal family survived the Holocaust. Her play 2.5 Minute Ride describes this contradiction as she recalls her mother asking her to come home for the holidays: “...she asks me every year, 'Are you going to make it home for Christmas this year?' And I say ‘ I don’t come home for Christmas Mom. I have never come home for Christmas. We are not Christians. Stop trying to trick me!"[3]

Lisa’s family moved to Lansing, Michigan in 1965. One of the main story lines in her play Well recounts her experiences attending a predominantly African American elementary school in that city. Lisa’s parents sent her to the school in an effort to help integrate it. Lansing began mandatory racial integration in its schools three years later.

Lisa became interested in theatre at an early age. She traces her acting roots to the Purim plays that she performed as a child at her synagogue in Lansing. In junior high she was determined to be the funniest girl that people knew. “Her avenue for that was telling humorous stories, something that everyone in her family did…”[4]

She graduated from Everett High School (Michigan) as a valedictorian in 1979. In her senior year she attended special theater classes at Lansing School District's Academic Interest Center. An early mentor was her theater teacher at the Center, the late Robert L. Burpee.

She attended Kalamazoo College, where she majored in theatre. At Kalamazoo College theater professor Lowry Marshall mentored her and helped her land a role with a national touring theater company.[5]

She furthered her studies at Chautauqua Professional Actors Studio and the British European Studies Group in London.

[edit] Major Works

Lisa Kron's major works to date are 2.5 Minute Ride and Well. Both are critically acclaimed autobiographical plays. 2.5 Minute Ride blends a trip she took with her father Walter to Auschwitz, the scene of his parents extermination by the Nazis and her family’s annual trip to an amusement park in Ohio. Lisa says in the introduction to her play: “Humor and horror are juxtaposed and you might not know for a second whether you are at Auschwitz or at the amusement park. The show does not tell you when to laugh and when to be solemn. The response is up to you.”[6]

The play recounts her father's remarkable experiences: "When my father… heard that his parents had been sent to Auschwitz, he immediately tried to order a ham sandwich, to distance himself from Judaism. But he couldn't. He'd say to the waitress, 'Um . . . tuna fish.' " [7]

Kron also reflects on looking at a poem on exhibit during their trip to Auschwitz: “I repeat the words that have undone me.’ People burn people here.’ ” [8] One of the most memorable scenes in the play is when her father tells her about the death of her grandparents at Auschwitz:

…I don't think I accepted it until a few years ago, in Lansing. It was the winter and it was so cold and I was shivering…And I realized this would only happen to them once. They were old and they stood outside, lined up in the cold and they were of no use to anyone and they were killed… [9]

Well explores her mother Ann’s experiences with social activism and illness, The play uses physical illness as a metaphor for social “illnesses” such as racism. Lisa’s description of Well: “A multicharacter theatrical exploration of issues of health and illness both in the individual and in a community.” [10] Lisa describes her mother:

My mother is a fantastically energetic person trapped in an utterly exhausted body…when she has a burst of energy it’s awe inspiring. For instance, when we were very young she decided she wanted my brother and me to be raised in a racially integrated neighborhood, and then she set about to create one.[11]

Both works have been very well received, 2.5 Minute Ride won an Obie award among others. Well was anthologized in Best Plays of 2003-2004, listed among the year's best plays by the New York Times and received two Tony Award nominations. Ben Brantley says of 2.5 Minute Ride: “(it)… puts Ms. Kron on a level with sterling monologists like Spalding Gray, autobiographers who combine novelistic complexity with stage-smart impudence.”[12] Michael Sommers says of Well: “Truly a beautiful play in many ways, Well paints a mother-and-daughter picture of rich, unusual artistry.” [13]

The first college performance of "Well" occurred in the winter of 2008 at Kalamazoo College, Lisa's alma matter. It starred a group of students as well as local professional actress Sharon Williams. Lisa traveled to Kalamazoo for the week of the run, participating in "Lisa Kron Week in Kalamazoo" which, besides the "Well", included a performance of the Five Lesbian Brothers' "The Secretaries" as well as a public reading in which she read excerpts from all three of her works in addition to one of the pieces she is currently working on.

[edit] Career in Theatre

Lisa’s works are humorous and poignant looks at life by someone who has often described herself an outsider. Her experiences as a Jewish woman living in a predominantly Christian Midwestern city or life as a lesbian working in traditional theatre provide rich material for her plays. Her reflections from the outside looking in are insightful but not bitter. The critic Ben Brantley says of her: “…there is never condescension in her humor. It is simply a crucial part of her navigational equipment in finding her way through life’s absurd course of non sequiturs.”[14]

She describes her creative process in her usual humorous and self deprecating way: “I wish I had more of a technique for constructing these things. I keep banging my head against the wall until it pops through on the other side…” [15]

She arrived in New York City in 1984. She worked as an office temp and various other jobs while pursuing an acting career. Some of her adventures during her early days in New York are chronicled in her play 101 Humiliating Stories. She was soon performing at the WOW Cafe,[1]a creative venue for women in the performing arts in the East Village, Manhattan.

In 1989 Lisa, Maureen Angelos, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey and Babs Davy founded the theater company The Five Lesbian Brothers. The group writes and performs witty satiric works from a feminist and lesbian perspective. "Five Lesbian Brothers was chosen, in part, to refute the perception of lesbian theatre as combative and didactic." [16] Their plays have been produced by the New York Theatre Workshop, the Joseph Papp Public Theater, the WOW Cafe Theatre and others. The Brothers have also toured all over the United States. The Brothers have won the Obie Award as well as other awards and have published The Five Lesbian Brothers' Guide to Life [17] and Five Lesbian Brothers Four Plays[18]

Lisa developed stories about her family into autobiographical plays and performed them in New York and London. Her work was critically well received. New York Times critic Ben Brantley said in his review: "…Fans of that beleaguered literary form, the memoir, can breathe a little more easily this morning. Lisa Kron's sparkling autobiographical play Well has arrived on Broadway…to restore the honor of a genre that was slipping into disgrace... [19] Well opened on Broadway March 10, 2006, to critical acclaim and received two Tony nominations. Lisa was nominated for Actress in a Play and Jayne Houdyshell was nominated for Featured Actress in a Play. In spite of good reviews, Well had low attendance and closed on May 14 2006. It has since been performed in Boston in 2007.

[edit] Personal Life

Lisa has lived in New York City since 1984 and is a full time actress. She also teaches playwriting part-time at Yale University.

[edit] Selected Theatre Performances

  • All My Hopes and Dreams Performance Space 122 New York 1989-91
  • Voyage to Lesbos WOW Café New York 1990
  • Brave Smiles WOW Café New York 1991
  • Facing Life’s Problems Performance Space 122 New York 1991
  • 101 Humiliating Stories Performance Space 122; Serious Fun! at Lincoln Center New York 1993-95
  • The Secretaries Theatre Rhinoceros, New York Theatre Workshop 1994
  • Brides of the Moon Theatre Rhinoceros, New York Theatre Workshop 1996
  • 2.5 Minute Ride La Jolla Playhouse, (premiere)1996
  • 2.5 Minute Ride The Barbican Theatre London, 1998
  • 2.5 Minute Ride American Repertory Theatre, Boston, 1998
  • 2.5 Minute Ride Joseph Papp Public Theater, New York City, 1999
  • Well Public Theater, New York City, Spring 2004
  • Well Longacre Theater on Broadway, New York City 2006
  • 2.5 Minute Ride Anchorage 2006
  • Well The Huntington Theatre Boston 2007
  • Spain MCC Theater New York City October 2007
  • Time is the Mercy of Eternity West End Theater New York City April 2008

[edit] Selected Works

  • The Five Lesbian Brothers' Guide to Life by the Five Lesbian Brothers, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. ISBN 978-0684813844
  • 2.5 Minute Ride and 101 Humiliating Stories New York : Theatre Communications Group, 2001. ISBN 978-1559361811
  • Voyage to Lesbos in Five Lesbian Brothers Four Plays New York : Theatre Communications Group, 2000. ISBN 1559361662
  • Well New York : Theatre Communications Group, 2006. ISBN 978-1559362535

[edit] Selected Anthologies

  • Brave Smiles by the Five Lesbian Brothers, The Actor's Book of Gay and Lesbian Plays, Eric Lane and Nina Shengold, eds. New York: Penguin, 1995 ISBN 978-0140245523
  • Cast Out : Queer Lives In Theater Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press 2006 ISBN 9780472099337
  • Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century New York: Theatre Communications Group 2000 ISBN 1559361557
  • Out Of Character : Rants, Raves, And Monologues From Today's Top Performance Artists New York : Bantam Books 1997 ISBN 0553374850 9780553374858
  • 2.5 Minute Ride in Talk to Me : Monologue Plays New York : Vintage Books 2004 ISBN 9781400076154
  • Voyage to Lesbos in Five Lesbian Brothers Four Plays New York : Theatre Communications Group, 2000 ISBN 1559361662
  • Well In The Best Plays Theater Yearbook 2003-2004 New York : Limelight Editions, c2005. ISBN 9780879103156

[edit] Articles Written

Lithe I'm Not. And Trained I'm Not. But I Danced.[2]New York Times, December 12, 1999.

[edit] Audiobooks

2.5 Minute Ride [ABRIDGED] (Audio CD) New Millennium Audio; Abridged edition 2001 ISBN 978-1931056250

[edit] Awards and Fellowships Won

[edit] 2.5 Minute Ride

  • Los Angeles Dramalogue Award
  • Obie Award
  • 2000 GLAAD Media Award

[edit] Well

  • Listed among the year's best plays by the New York Times, the Associated Press, the Newark Star Ledger, Backstage and the Advocate
  • Part of the 2004 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab

[edit] Other

  • 1993 New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) with The Five Lesbian Brothers
  • 1994 Robert Chesley Gay and Lesbian Playwriting Award
  • 1994 New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship in playwriting
  • 1995 Obie Award for The Secretaries with The Five Lesbian Brothers
  • 1997 Cal Arts/Alpert Award
  • 2000 Creative Capital Foundation Grant
  • 2000 NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights
  • 2000 NEA/TCG playwriting fellowship
  • 2003 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, Kalamazoo College
  • 2004 New York Foundation for the Arts grant
  • 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship
  • 2007 The Lucille Lortel Foundation Playwrighting Fellowship
  • 2008 Chosen to participate in the 2008 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab

[edit] Awards Nominated

[edit] 101 Humiliating Stories

  • Drama Desk nomination in solo performance

[edit] 2.5 Minute Ride

  • Outer Critics Circle Award
  • L.A. Drama-Logue Award
  • Drama Desk nomination in solo performance
  • Outer Critics Circle nomination in solo performance
  • 1999 New York Press Award for Best Autobiographical Solo Show

[edit] Well

  • Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award Best Actress-Play
  • Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award Best Featured Actress-Play
  • 2004 Drama League Nomination
  • 2004 Outer Critics Circle Best Play nomination

[edit] Other

  • 1994 Nomination for Drama Desk Award in Solo Performance

[edit] Television and Movie Performances

  • Cater-Waiter(1996)
  • Law and Order: Atonement 1996 CSU Warren
  • Law and Order: Disciple 1999 CSU Technician Andrews
  • Law and Order: Trophy 1996 CSU Warren
  • Strong Medicine: Family History 2002 Nooch
  • Stay(2005) .... Paramedic #2

[edit] Quotes

“Bizarre Murder!! A Lesbian Forces Blind Holocaust Victim on Roller Coaster!”. 2.5 Minute Ride And 101 Humiliating Stories

“…Judaism, you know, is viewed in the Midwest as kind of an accessory that you wear on top of your Christianity.” Well

“I come from a family with a deep distrust of the body. I believe my family would have their bodies surgically removed from their heads if they could figure out a way to still get to the mall.” Lithe I'm Not. And Trained I'm Not. But I Danced.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Kron, 2.5 Minute Ride p.21
  2. ^ Hughes
  3. ^ Kron, 2.5 Minute Ride p. 10-11
  4. ^ Miller
  5. ^ Miller
  6. ^ Kron, 2.5 Minute Ride p. xiv
  7. ^ Drukman
  8. ^ Kron, 2.5 Minute Ride p. 24
  9. ^ Kron, 2.5 Minute Ride p. 11
  10. ^ Kron, Well p. 12
  11. ^ Kron, Well p. 15
  12. ^ Brantley, Laughter and Horror in a Journey of the Heart
  13. ^ Sommers
  14. ^ Brantley, Laughter and Horror in a Journey of the Heart
  15. ^ Lester
  16. ^ Weisman
  17. ^ Five Lesbian Brothers, The Five Lesbian Brothers' Guide to Life
  18. ^ Five Lesbian Brothers, Four Plays
  19. ^ Brantley, Lisa Kron's 'Well' Opens on Broadway, with Mom Keeping Watch

[edit] References

  • Brantley, Ben. Laughter And Horror In a Journey Of the Heart.[3] The New York Times March 29, 1999
  • Brantley, Ben. Lisa Kron's 'Well' Opens on Broadway, With Mom Keeping Watch. [4] The New York Times. March 31, 2006
  • Drukman, Steven. 70 Minutes on an Emotional Roller-Coaster: A Solo Journey From Ohio to Auschwitz. [5] New York Times March 28, 1999
  • Five Lesbian Brothers. The Five Lesbian Brothers' Guide to Life New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. ISBN 978-0684813844
  • Five Lesbian Brothers. Four Plays New York : Theatre Communications Group, 2000. ISBN 1559361662
  • Hughes, Mike. Westside Stories. Lansing State Journal April 27, 2004
  • Kron, Lisa. 2.5 Minute Ride And 101 Humiliating Stories New York : Theatre Communications Group, 2001. ISBN 978-1559361811
  • Kron, Lisa. Well New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2006. ISBN 1-55936-253-7
  • Lester, Gideon. Journey of a Lifetime. [6]
  • Miller, Stuart. Playwright Draws from a Personal 'Well'. The Star-Ledger, Newark: New Jersey March 26, 2006
  • Sommers, Michael. “Well” Written, “Well” Staged, “Well” Acted. The Star-Ledger, Newark: NJ March 31, 2006
  • Weisman, Wendy. The Importance of Being Lisa Kron: In Well, She Plays Herself Writing A Play About Herself. Will Broadway Get It? [7] American Theatre March 2006
  • WOW Café [8]

[edit] Further reading

  • Glickman, Ken. Theater Review: Well. Lansing State Journal April 27, 2006
  • Green, Jesse. One-Woman Show Learns to Share. [9]New York Times March 21, 2004
  • Nightingale, Benedict. Story Tells Vivid Picture. The Times London July 23, 1998

[edit] External links