Thurman E. Scott is the inheritor of the Stanislavski legacy and of my legacy. He is a creative revolutionary whose work advances acting technique for the next generation. Thurman’s vision is big. Very big. He has never ever compromised himself, his talent, his beliefs, or his willingness to meet and surpass all creative challenges.
– Stella Adler, March 20, 1990, New York City
Stella Adler was the primary creative influence on Thurman E. Scott, ATW’s Artistic Director, Executive Producer and Founder. Her teachings and legacy have had a profound impact on The Actors Theatre Workshop and everyone we serve.
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Thurman E. Scott on Stella Adler’s Profound Impact on Him and The Actors Theatre Workshop
The inspiration and the birth of The Actors Theatre Workshop was not so much a decision I made, as it was a mission given to me by my mentor and teacher, friend and family, the great Stella Adler. As a teacher of drama, Stella brought together the centuries-old European principles with new ideas that were emerging in Russian theatre in the 1930s and ‘40s. Stella had the distinction of being the only teacher in America to have studied with Constantin Stanislavski, the Father of Modern Acting and creator of the Russian “System” known in America as “The Method”. Stella led a life-long quest to investigate, create and teach an American technique that brought forth many of our greatest performances in film, television, and theatre.
My charge has been to provide a creative space for classically trained theatre artists, writers or directors; training for young aspiring theatre artists; support for the struggle in the community to find a safe and more meaningful way of living; and to teach, tutor, feed and care for homeless children. This is the meaning of assuming the mantle of leadership and protecting the vision first articulated by Stella and my other mentors in the Group Theater, later supported and upheld by the Founding Members, staff and volunteers of The Actors Theatre Workshop. The Theatre’s 1990 gala opening was merely the physical extension of many years of study, accomplishment and planning. As Artistic Director of The Actors Theatre Workshop, my leadership reflects the collective consciousness of my mentors’ legacy and their support to establish an institution.
Just one month before she passed, Stella told me, “Thurman, my child, my son. The vision of teaching children the techniques I taught you and combining that effort with creating new, original theatre — bringing these two consciousness together is at the center of the struggle of the universe and there is nothing you could have done with your life and your talent that has more meaning. I knew you would be the one to do it. Congratulations. I applaud you, Thurman. You have taken the work to a new level.”
My spirit was touched and my soul enflamed by this great woman, who looked across that great divide and did not see a sharecropper’s son, nor did she see color; she looked upon me with acceptance, love and compassion. Stella touched not only my heart, but also now touches the hearts and minds of all the students and children that I teach as I pass on the story of how she taught and mentored me. So she lives. Not only in memory, but in spirit, commitment and voice. She lives. And this place that we have been nurturing and have fought to hold onto — The Actors Theatre Workshop — is the tangible representation of that consciousness, commitment, and spirit that cannot and will not ever die. That is why we are here and that is why we will continue to exist. Because we represent something much bigger than ourselves.
