The Wooster Group is a company of artists who make work for theater, dance, and media. Founded in 1975 by Elizabeth LeCompte – still the Group’s artistic director – and Spalding Grey, the Wooster Group has been a NYC stalwart and widely influential on generations of artists. With A PINK CHAIR (In Place of a Fake Antique)they take on one of the greatest figures in the 20th-century avant-garde theater: the iconic Polish stage director Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990).

Learn more about the company’s history, current members, and the Group’s prolific body of work.

Office Hours

Indefinite Article

Marc Robinson on the Wooster Group

Inferences never ripen into certainties, nor are the ruins replaced by convincing replicas.

Get Into It

The Wooster Group’s “Dailies” – short snippets behind-the-scenes, organized into monthly playlists – are an absolute treasure trove. Here are some selections from the making of A PINK CHAIR – there’s more where these came from. Exploration recommended.

Get Thee to the LIbrary

Recommended readings to accompany the Indefinite Article by Marc Robinson.

Tadeusz Kantor, A Journey Through Other Spaces. University of California Press, 1993.

Michal Kobialka, Further On, Nothing: Tadeusz Kantor’s Theatre. University of Minnesota Press, 2009.

Krzysztof Miklaszewski, Encounters with Tadeusz Kantor. Routledge, 2013.

Magda Romanska, Kathleen Cioffi (eds.), Theatermachine: Tadeusz Kantor in Context. Northwestern University Press, 2020.

Noel Witts, Tadeusz Kantor (Routledge Performance Practitioners). Routledge, 2018.

Read All About It

Hilton Als for the Paris Review | March 30, 2017

Making Theater: An Interview with Elizabeth LeCompte

“That’s why I’m not a curator or something, because I could never type. And that’s how I knew I had to be an artist—it didn’t require a typewriter.”

Jane Kramer for the New Yorker | Oct 8, 2007

Experimental Journey: Elizabeth LeCompte takes on Shakespeare.

“I am not an intellectual. I am not trying to mean anything—I’m trying to have a good time.”

Hillar Liitoja for The Believer | July 1, 2015

An Interview with Elizabeth LeCompte

“When I’m ready to work, almost anything can become material. It feels porous to me. If I have an idea, it will flow through.”

BOMB Magazine | Oct 1, 1991

Elizabeth LeCompte by Linda Yablonsky

“The people I haven’t worked with try to understand everything I say. It’s a big mistake. I’ll throw in just anything to manipulate a situation.”

Charles McNulty for the Los Angeles Times | April 6, 2018

Review: With ‘A Pink Chair,’ Wooster Group conjures from spirits from theater’s past

Throughout its long history, the Wooster Group, America’s preeminent experimental theater company, has conducted séances to communicate with the spirits of the theatrical past.

Extra Credit

We’ve picked a book to complement each show in our season. We’ve got novels, short stories, essays, poetry, and memoir. Before opening night of each show (usually Fridays, but not always!), we’ll meet in the lobby for happy hour drinks and discussion. It’s an fun, informal way to find a new favorite book, meet people, and get your brain into gear for the show – even if you haven’t had a chance to read the book yet.

NYU Skirball Book Club | Thursday, Jan 23, 2020

The White Book by Han Kang

While on a writer’s residency, a nameless narrator wanders the twin white worlds of the blank page and snowy Warsaw. A fictional journey inspired by an older sister who died in her mother’s arms, a few hours old.