Our Story
Our Mission is to produce high quality theater performances and other educational programming for a diverse population in the Catskill Mountain region—enriching the quality of life for theater artists, students, and audiences of all ages.
History
The Open Eye Theater (Foundation for The Open Eye, Inc.) was founded in New York City in 1972 by the late famed dancer-choreographer Jean Erdman and her husband the renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell. Jean Erdman was universally recognized as an important artist in the avant-garde theater movement, with her innovative concept of “total theater” combining dance, drama, music, and myth.
Jean Erdman in "The Coach with Six Insides"
Jean Erdman
L to R: Dan Berkowitz, Amie Brockway, Darth Vader, Joseph Campbell, Jean Erdman. Sitting: Josh Logan.
Reading by Joseph Campbell biographers Stephen and Robin Larsen at Jean Erdman's 100th Birthday Celebration - 2016.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, under the leadership of producing artistic director Amie Brockway, the theater gained recognition as a developer and producer of leading plays for young and multi-generational audiences. Since relocating to the Catskill Mountains, and creating a theater home in Margaretville, NY, the theater has focused primarily on the development and production of new plays, introducing the work of new, emerging, and prominent playwrights. Popular among the productions has been the annual Summer Shortcuts, a program of eight 10-minute plays, featuring playwrights from the Catskills, across the country, and around the world.
In 2020, The Open Eye Theater began a collaborative adventure with WIOX Radio 91.3 FM, WIOXradio.org, simulcasting on MTC Channel 20 television.
L to R: Playwright and Former Board Chair Dan Berkowitz, Producing Artistic Director Amie Brockway, and Composer Elliot Sokolov, taken at Founding Director Jean Erdman's 100th Birthday Celebration.
Awards and Honors
The Open Eye Theater and producing artistic director Amie Brockway are proud winners of AATE’s Sara Spencer Award 2015 for Artistic Achievement, the Berilla Kerr Award for work on new American Plays, and the Prestigious Aurand Harris Grant from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America.
Amie Brockway, left, was honored by The American Alliance for Theatre and Education at a ceremony in Milwaukee, WI for a lifetime of sustained and exceptional achievement in theater for young audiences. Brockway, shown here with AATE President Jo Beth Gonzales, has been the Producing Artistic Director the Open Eye Theater in Margaretville for 25 years. Photo by Julia Peltier