American Zenith

Abstract

The five-year period between 1976 and 1981 was a quiet one in Schneider and Beckett’s collaboration. After remounting the triple bill of Play, Footfalls, and That Time at the Manhattan Theatre Club in December 1977, they did not work together again for the rest of the decade. While both men were getting older (Beckett turned 70 in 1976, Schneider 60 a year later), neither showed signs of slowing down. Beckett continued to write, to oversee his work in production, and to direct. Schneider maintained his typical frenetic pace—directing, teaching, writing, and lecturing all over the country. In particular, he increased his involvement in the academy. The years of professional and financial insecurity had taken their toll and he longed for the stability of academe. In 1976 he accepted a position as the head of the theatre program at Juilliard. A few years later, he became the chair of the graduate directing program at the University of California, San Diego (though he maintained a permanent residence in New York). His appointment in California cemented his national profile, which was further solidified by his tenure as president of the board of directors for the Theatre Communication Group.