Fred Curchack

M.A. - Theatre Arts
Queens College, New York, Theatre - 1972

B.A. - Theatre Arts
Queens College - 1970

HS - Drama
H.S. of Performing Arts - NY - 1964

Wrote, directed, acted in 78 original plays produced internationally. - publications

Professor of Art and Performance
The University of Texas at Dallas [1986–Present]

Theatre Instructor
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California [1978–1985]

Theatre Instructor
United Nations International School, New York [1974–1976]

PRIZES, HONORS, GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, CITATIONS

•  Guggenheim and six NEA Fellowships, Grants from Creative Capital, Jim Henson Foundation, Arts International, USIS (see below). U.S. representative at dozens of international theatre festivals.
•  Numerous newspaper articles and reviews of new shows published every year (available upon request).
•  Two-page feature article on theater work and on teaching at UTD. 2010.
•  NOH: Angels, Demons, & Dreamers selected as one of the “Top Ten Theatre Productions of 2007” by The Dallas Morning News critic Lawson Taitte. 2007.
•  Golden Buddha Beach selected as one of the "Top 10 Plays in the SF Bay Area 2005” by Sonoma Valley Sun critic Ron Singer. 2005
•  Gauguin's Shadow selected as "Best New Play" by the Dallas/Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum and as "Top Ten Theatre of 2004" by The Dallas Morning News critic Tom Sime.
•  Stuff As Dreams Are Made On cited by theatre critic Lawson Taitte in The Dallas Morning News as one of the world's "very best works in all genres that were inspired by a Shakespeare play." 2004.
•  Grant from the Jim Henson Foundation to develop Gauguin's Shadow. 2001-2002.
•  Work cited in The Paris Jigsaw – Internationalism and the city’s stages, Manchester University Press, 2002.
•  Sexual Mythology part 2: PURGATORY discussed in Dante and Music by Maria Ann Roglieri. Ashgate Publishing, 2001.
•  Work cited by Mel Gussow in The Cambridge History of American Theatre (Volume III). Cambridge University Press, 2000.
•  Grant and additional funding from the Creative Capital Foundation to develop Lear's Shadow. 1999 - 2000.
•  Grant from the Jim Henson Foundation to develop Lear's Shadow. 1999 - 2000.
•  Stuff As Dreams Are Made On selected for the "Top Ten Theater Productions of the Decade" by The Austin Chronicle. 2000.
•  Feature articles in The Dallas Morning News and The Dallas Observer. 2000.
•  “Outstanding Performance Award” from the Dallas Theatre Critics’ Forum for A Surprise Party. 1998.
•  Grant from USIS to perform and teach at Festival International de Theatre Universitaire de Casablanca (first American to perform in festival’s 11 year history). 1998.
•  Work discussed in books, Masked Performance by John Emigh and in Theater on the Edge by Mel Gussow. 1998.
•  Orpheus in Hollywood: a Myth Mash chosen by the Dallas Morning News theater critic Lawson Taitte for “Top Ten of 1997.”
•  Arts International Grant for Travel to Journées Theatràles du Carthage Festival. 1997.
•  Cover story on Orpheus in Hollywood in the Dallas Morning News “Weekend Guide.” 1997.
•  Radio interviews on “Forum” (KQED, SF); “Curtain Call” (KCRB, Sonoma County CA); “Art Matters” (WRR, Dallas). 1997.
•  Included in New York Times Sunday Magazine article "Shakespeare in America" (with photo). 1996.
•  Received grant from Arts International to represent the U.S. at the Carthage International Theatre Festival, Tunis, Tunisia. 1995.
•  Received grant from USIS for travel to Tunisia to collaborate with director Tawfiq Jeballi. 1995.
•  Extended 11 week run of 3 original plays at The Odyssey Theater. Received "Critics Choice" citations in all 5 Los Angeles newspapers and was chosen as "Best Theater of the Week" by The Los Angeles Times. 1995.
•  Performed at Gala Opening of the New Victory Theater on Broadway, 1995.
•  STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE ON received six awards from The Austin Circle of Theatres: Best Production, Actor, Original Script, Light Design, Costumes, Props. 1994.
•  Work cited in The Revisionist Stage – American Directors Reinvent the Classics by Amy S. Green. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
•  NEA Special Projects/Individuals Grant to create ABEL AND CAIN: a Biblical Debacle in collaboration with Daniel and Paule Stein. 1993-94.
•  STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE ON chosen as Best Theatre Performance of 1993 by Robert Faires, critic of the Austin Chronicle.
•  Called "a Texas genius" in a weekend cover story by Michael Barnes, theater critic of the Austin American Statesman. 1993.
•  U.S. Representative to perform at Festival Mundial Teatro de las Naciones, Santiago, Chile. Received Arts America Touring Grant. 1993.
•  U.S.I.S. funding to perform at Festival du Carthage, Tunis. 1993.
•  "Laughing Waters" chosen as Children's Album of the Year by Parents Choice Magazine. 1993.
•  U.S. Representative - First American ever to perform at Festival du Carthage, the pre-eminent African Theatre Festival. USIS Funding. 1993.
•  Dallas Theatre Critics' Forum "Outstanding Performance Award" for WHAT FOOLS THESE MORTALS BE. 1992.
•  WHAT FOOLS... selected by both Dallas Morning News theater critics for their "Top Ten of 1992" lists.
•  WHAT FOOLS... cited by Dallas Morning News critic Jerome Weeks as one of his "all-time favorites" and STUFF... cited as his "number one favorite performance" in six years of reviewing in Dallas. 1992.
•  Voted "Best Performance Artist" by the Dallas Observer Readers' Poll. 1992.
•  Selected to represent the U.S. at the Theatre of Nations Festival in Santiago, Chile. 1993.
•  Funding for tour to Montevideo by Arts International. 1992.
•  GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP. 1991-92.
•  Jury member, International Festival of Solo Theatre and Mime, Belgrade. 1991.
•  Resident Artist - American College Theatre Festival; Sonoma State University, California. 1991.
•  American Theatre Wing Award for Design of Stuff As Dreams Are Made On. 1990.
•  Gold Medal, International Festival of Solo Theatre, Belgrade, for Stuff... 1990.
•  U.S.I.A. Funding for tour of Yugoslavia. 1990.
•  National Endowment for the Arts, Solo Performance Fellowships. 1991; 1990; 1989; 1987.
•  NEA Inter-Arts Grant to create Cain and Abel with Daniel Stein at The Theatre Project, Baltimore. 1989-1990.
•  NEA Theatre Special Project Grant to create and perform Sexual Mythology part 2: Purgatory and part 3: Heaven. 1989-1991.
•  The University of Texas Research Grant for developing new work. 1989.
•  NEA Theatre Special Project Grant to create and perform Sexual Mythology part 1: The Underworld at Movement Theatre International. Additional funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. 1989.
•  Works cited as "Critics Choice" by the major Dallas newspapers: Sexual Mythology part 3: HEAVEN - or - The Big Talk Show, Sexual Mythology part 2: Purgatory, Sexual Mythology part 1: The Underworld, Stuff As Dreams Are Made On, Inquest for Freddy Chickan, Fred Breaks Bread with the Dead, Uncle Vanya.
•  Stuff As Dreams Are Made On selected as one of the "ten most noteworthy theatre productions of 1989" by Mel Gussow, The New York Times. 1989.
•  Feature on work aired nationally on NPR's "Morning Edition." 1989.
•  Sexual Mythology part 1: The Underworld selected by Dallas Observer Readers' Poll as "Most Daring and Courageous Theatre Production of 1989."
•  Board of Advisors, International Movement Theatre Festival, Philadelphia. 1989-1992.
•  "Special Award" for Inquest for Freddy Chickan and for Stuff As Dreams Are Made On from the Dallas Theatre Critics Forum. 1987.
•  Outstanding Achievement Award from the S.F. Chronicle for Fred Breaks Bread with the Dead. 1985.
•  Hollywood Dramalogue Award for Stuff As Dreams Are Made On. 1983.
•  Bay Area Critics Award for Incarnation. 1982. 

TECHNICAL THEATRE

•  TECHNICAL THEATRE
•  Received the American Theater Wing Award for Design for Stuff As Dreams Are Made On. 1990.
•  Designed and built sets, masks, puppets, costumes, lights, and made videos for: Synthesis: An Idiot’s Guide to Death and Rebirth; Milarepa; Monkey: The Quest to the West; NOH: Angels, Demons & Dreamers; An American Dream Play; Golden Buddha Beach; Gauguin's Shadow; Dionysos Does Dallas; Glimpsings; Lear's Shadow; Live Love Acts; The Last Night of Don Juan; Hamlet: Carnal, Bloody, & Unnatural Acts; The Secret Life of UTD; A Surprise Party; Orpheus in Hollywood (live and video versions); The Comeback of Freddy Chickan; The Making of the American Entertainment Industry’s Tribute to Freddy Chickan; The Wanderings of Odysseus; ABEL & CAIN: A Biblical Debacle; THE SHOW: A Metatheatrical Hodgepodg; HEDDY & TEDDY: A Closet Drama; What Fools These Mortals Be; FAMILY VALUES: A Closet Drama; Sexual Mythology part 3: HEAVEN, part 2: PURGATORY, part 1: The UNDERWORLD; Inquest for Freddy Chickan; Project Job; A Christmas Carol; Stuff As Dreams Are Made On, Fred Breaks Bread with the Dead; Incarnations; In Tents. . .; The Mental Traveller; The Singing Cock; All Hallows' Eve; Hamlet Kathakali, Shunkan, Ain't It the Truth?, Purgatory; Exorcise in Love and War. . ., The Dance of Life and Breath, Dream of Danang; Metaphysics in Mecklenberg Street.
•  Designed and developed theatre facility at the United Nations International School - including modular stage, acoustic curtains, seating, lighting system, scene shop. Helped write several successful grant proposals. 1974-1976.
•  Assisted in construction of 300-seat theatre, including stage, seating, lighting system at The Space for Innovative Development, New York. 1973-1974.
•  Assisted in the construction of an authentic Noh Stage at the Kita Noh Institute of America, Boston. 1972.
•  New York Shakespeare Festival Mobile Theatre. Tech crew, toured New York City parks. 1964.

Personal Statement

A working theater artist and teacher, I've written and performed seventy-eight original theater pieces (fifty-one ensemble works and twenty-seven solos). My performances have received international acclaim.

Research includes world theater, literature, music, video, photography, visual art, dance, philosophy, psychology, comparative religions and ritual practices.

Many former students are now artistic directors of theater companies, working actors, directors, writers, and teachers. My work as a teacher focuses on helping students to develop the tools, the awareness, and the confidence to create their own work.

After receiving a drama degree from the High School of Performing Arts in N.Y., and a BA and MA in Theater from Queens College, I studied Indian Kathakali with Krishnan Nambudiri, Japanese Noh with Sadayo Kita, Balinese Topeng with Nyomen Wenten, choreography with Alwin Nikolais, and I trained with Grotowski's Polish Theater Lab. Before coming to UTD, I taught theatre at the United Nations International School, N.Y. and Sonoma State University, California.

My performances have been featured at dozens of international theatre festivals (Next Wave-BAM, Theatre of Nations, Theater der Welt, Theatre des Ameriques...). I have received the Gold Medal at the International Festival of Solo Theatre, the American Theatre Wing Award, Critics' Awards in L.A., S.F., Dallas, Austin, and my work has been "Best of the week" in the L.A. Times, "Top ten of the year" in The New York Times, "Top ten of the decade" in the Austin Chronicle, and in the "Top ten of all-time" in The Dallas Morning News. I've received funding from Creative Capital, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts International, The Henson Foundation and I am a Guggenheim Fellow.

Professor Is the Heart of Multimedia One-Man Show

In his new play, UT Dallas drama professor Fred Curchack interacts with videos of his wife, his mother, his daughter and his granddaughter on his quest to find the secret of life. Grandpa’s Home Videos, a solo piece that Curchack also wrote, premiered last month in Petaluma, Calif., and will be playing in Dallas for three weeks at the Bath House Cultural Center. Curchack describes the semi-autobiographical Grandpa’s Home Videos as “a contemplation of the nature of ‘self’ and how individual identity develops, evolves and ultimately falls away. It uses video, songs and comedy to confront the fundamental illusion that is the source of so much confusion in our lives.”

Prof, 3 Ex-Students Receive Theater Critic Awards

The 2009-2010 Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum Awards were announced on Sept. 15, and University of Texas at Dallas drama professor Fred Curchack received a special citation for “being a true renaissance theater artist.” Curchack was also one of four actors to receive an Ensemble Award for the Undermain Theatre production of Samuel Beckett's Endgame.Three former UT Dallas theater students also received awards. David Lozano co-wrote and directed Crystal City 1969, which received an award for New Play. Josh Glover’s company, Upstart Players, which he founded and produces, won several awards. SubUrbia, which Josh directed, won for Ensemble, Actor and Design; and Talk Radio, which Josh produced, won for Actor and Design. Former student Maryam Baig-Lush was a member of the winning ensemble cast of subUrbia as well.

Curchack to Stage Monkey: The Quest to the West

Faculty member Fred Curchack will direct Monkey: The Quest to the West, a play he adapted for the stage from the famous Chinese novel Journey to the West, at UT Dallas April 10-19. Performances will run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. in the University Theatre. The story follows the supernatural trickster Monkey, who makes war with heaven until he is imprisoned under a mountain by Buddha. After 500 years, he is released to protect a Buddhist monk on his perilous journey from China to India to bring back spiritual texts. On the way they encounter all manner of deities, demons, monsters and outrageous misadventures.

American Dream Play, a Production Written and Directed by UTD Professor, to Open March 31

Beginning March 31, a professor in the School of Arts and Humanities at T he University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), Fred Curchack, will direct An American Dream Play, a production that he also wrote. The play is set to open in UTD’s University Theatre and runs through April 9, with Friday and Saturday performances at 8 p.m ., and Sunday performances at 2:30 p.m. In the play, God’s daughter comes to earth to experience what it is like to be human. Feasting on the fruits of civilization, she discovers marriage, family, education, politics, war and religion. The production is a reworking of August Strindberg’s classic, A Dream Play, which follows the wisdom of the subconscious on a journey into and beyond modern life.

Fred Curchack Adapts One-Man Show, Gauguin's Paradise, For UTD Student Cast

UTD Professor and acclaimed theatre artist Fred Curchack will premiere the full-stage adaptation of his one-man show, Gauguin's Paradise , in the University Theatre at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) March 26, 27 and 28 and April 2, 3 and 4. Friday and Saturday performances will begin at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Curchack will transform his one-man show, Gauguin's Shadow , originally created to commemorate the 100 th anniversary of the death of artist Paul Gauguin, into a full-stage play, Gauguin's Paradise , for a student cast.

National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim Fellowship (1991-92)

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