Research Guides
The Workroom (L'Atelier)
Jean-Claude Grumberg (American version by Daniel A. Stein with Sara O'Connor)
The Workroom was first presented in the United States by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater on March 7, 1980. The production was directed by John Dillon.
Cast:
Helene Maggie Burke
Simone Peggy Cowles
Gisele Julie Garfield
Mme. Laurence Marge Kotlisky
Marie Dana Barton
Mimi Rose Pickering
Leon William Leach
First Presser Larry Shue
Machine Operators Henry Burko, Rick Weber
Jean, Second Presser Jack McLaughlin-Gary
Max George Axler
Boy Matthew Knuth
Select Production History
1980 Milwaukee Repertory Theater
1981 Trinity Square Repertory Company
1981 Long Wharf Theatre, directed by Nancy Meckler
1982 South Street Theatre under the direction of Aaron Levin and Jerold Barnard
Select Publication History
Grumberg, Jean-Claude, The workroom, Samuel French, Inc., 1984.
Grumberg, Jean-Claude, The free zone; and The workroom, Ubu Repertory Theater Publications, 1993.
Wehle, Philippa, et al., France: Plays, PAJ Publications, 1986.
Grumberg, Jean-claude and Seth Wolitz, Jean-claude grumberg: Three plays, University of Texas Press, 2014.
Select Production Reviews (links are to full-text articles; UW-restricted)
Gussow, Mel. (1981, Nov. 06). The stage: L'atelier, in postwar europe. The New York Times, pp. C.5.
Gussow, Mel. (1982, Jan. 31). Stage: The workroom, postwar reflections. The New York Times, pp. A.50.
Gussow, Mel. (1982, Nov. 11). Theater: Workroom, anti-semitism in paris. The New York Times, pp. C.21.
Select Bibliography (links are to full-text articles; UW-restricted)
Scholarly Articles
Pocknell, B. (1998). Jean-claude grumberg's holocaust plays: Presenting the jewish experience. Modern Drama, 41(3), 399-410.
Abstract: Pocknell considers Jean-Claude Grumberg's treatment of the Holocaust in "Dreyfus," "L'Atelier," and "Zone libre." His approach to the Jewish experience diverges from that of the majority of playwrights who are recognized for their "Holocaust plays."
King, R. L. (1985). Psychic numbing and grumberg's L'atelier. Massachusetts Review: A Quarterly of Literature, the Arts and Public Affairs, 26(4), 580-594.
Excerpt: Grumberg's achievement extends and qualifies some critical assessments of Holocaust literature, and it shows the way for drama to reach an audience with a true rhetoric—one that arrives at discovery, not persuasion. (p.580)
Monographs
Wolitz., S. L. (2012). Holocaust memory in the French Jewish theater of Jean-Claude Grumberg. In E. Nahson (Ed.), Jews and theater in an intercultural context (pp. 137-149). Leiden; Boston: Brill.
Abstract: Although it summarizes L'atelier, the essay primarily examines Mama’s Coming Back, Poor Orphan (Maman Revient, Pauvre Orphelin).
List of Published Jean-Claude Grumberg Plays (English translations)
Dreyfus in rehearsal, New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service, 1983.
The workroom: (L'atelier), New York; London: French, 1984.
The workroom=L'atelier, New York: Samuel Rench, 1984.
The free zone; and the workroom, New York: Ubu Repertory Theater Publications, 1993.
The workroom: L'atelier in Jean-claude grumberg: Three plays, University of Texas Press, 2014.
On the way to the promised land (Vers toi terre promise) in Jean-claude grumberg: Three plays, University of Texas Press, 2014.
Mama’s coming back, poor orphan (Maman revient, pauvre orphelin), in Jean-claude grumberg: Three plays, University of Texas Press, 2014.