Director will focus on career at Public Theater in talk

George C. Wolfe, one of the most influential directors in American theater, will focus on his career in a talk for IU students Tuesday.\nThe Ralph L. Collins Memorial Lecture Series brings Wolfe to IU at 5 p.m. in the Ruth N. Halls Theatre. Afterward, Theatre & Drama Department Chair Jonathan Michaelsen will interview Wolfe in the Ruth N. Halls Theatre about his career, specifically the work he has done while at the Public Theater in Manhattan.\n"He's probably the best director working in the industry," Michaelsen said. "We had to get him sandwiched between things, since he's just having a show open at the Public."\nThat show is Neil Labute's "This Is How It Goes," a play looking at an interracial marriage under the pressure of suburban ideology. The play includes actors Amanda Peet, Ben Stiller and Jeffrey Wright. According to Playbill, it is Wolfe's last show at the Public before Oskar Eustis replaces him as producing director. \n"As a producing director, he's very skilled at finding important works that may otherwise be overlooked, finding funding and audiences for them," said Ron Wainscott, IU professor of theatre history, literature and theory. "He's omnivorous -- he gravitates toward so many things."\nWolfe's best known works as a director include the Broadway productions of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize winning "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika," Suzan Lori-Park's Pulitzer Prize winning "Top Dog/Underdog," Anna Deavere-Smith's "Twilight, Los Angeles: 1992" and Shakespeare's "The Tempest," as well as musicals "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk," "Caroline, or Change" and "Jelly's Last Jam," a look at the life of jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton, which Wolfe also wrote.\nHis string of Broadway productions and off-Broadway shows has brought Wolfe several Tony, Obie and Drama Desk awards.\n"I've never seen anything by him that wasn't complete in its execution, and I can't say that about many directors," Wainscott said. "You're left with such a distinct experience when you see his work, it stays with you long after you leave the theater."\nApart from Wolfe's current success, Michaelsen said he also hopes Wolfe's background will inspire IU students to reach further with their own art.\n"I think it's important for students to see someone who is not vastly different from them," Michaelsen said. "Wolfe went through the educational process. He's had a drive, a vision and a passion that has stuck with him and taken him to great accomplishments."\nAccording to the Web site www.bridgesweb.com, Wolfe did his undergraduate work at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. While there, he twice won the regional American College Theatre Festival for playwrighting. His vision and work ethic eventually took him to New York, where he received an master's in playwrighting from New York University.\nA reception in the Michaels Lobby outside of the Ruth N. Halls Theatre will follow the interview. Wolfe will talk with the audience. IU alumna Shannon Thake, who assisted Wolfe in his current production "This Is How It Goes," will also attend. Thake also manages Joe's Pub, a cabaret space Wolfe developed at the Public.\n"These events can change peoples' minds about what they want to do," Wainscott said. "That's what the educational process should be -- finding out who you are through working with other artists."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Patrick Doolin at pdoolin@indiana.edu.