Creative Method: Harold Clurman on Directing

Through archived audio, famous director and one of the founding members of New York's Group Theater, Harold Clurman contributes to a WGBH Archive collection of 22 original radio essays by leading thinkers in the 20th Century on the nature of creativity in American arts, sciences, and professions.

Twenty-two prominent men and women in many fields contributed to this thought-provoking series, which sought to provide insights useful in the development of an educational and cultural setting in which this nation's creative potential could be fiully realized. Originally given during radio interviews in the 1950's, their timeless comments have been remastered to live online for your enjoyment.

Frank Lloyd Wright, Aaron Copland, Leopold Stokowski, Robert Penn Warren, Allen Tate, Norman Cousins, Reinhold Niehbuhr, Margaret Mead, Agnes de Mille, and many other authorities express their individual views on the creative process in reference to their own work and to society. Each interview attempted to answer several critical questions relative to nontechnical values that challenge the attention of thoughtful individuals in an industrial society: Do the human and cultural aspects of civilization receive the necessary encouragement to insure a balanced development? Do the young potential artists in our midst have a favorable opportunity to express their talents?

Consideration of these and related issues suggests numerous questions as to the nature of art, artists, creativeness in both the arts and sciences, and the conditions requisite for creative effort.