ATLANTIC THEATER
COMPANY
FUN FACTS
-
The Atlantic Theater Company was formed in 1985.
-
Clark Gregg is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company alongside David Mamet, William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman and the rest of the NYU Class of '85.
-
Clark Gregg was once the Artistic Director for Atlantic Theater Company. He is still on the Board for the company.
-
They run as a Off-Broadway Theater Company through the "Linda Gross Theater" in NYC.
The Atlantic Theater Company was founded in New York City as a Off-Broadway acting company. David Mamet along with William H. Macy taught their inaugural class at New York University and started up the the Atlantic Theater Company in 1985 which consisted of the entire class. A part of that original class was Clark Gregg who graduated in 1986.
Clark has written, directed and acted in over a dozen theater acts. His theater career began earlier than his movie/tv career. His first official act in theater is credited in the year 1985 and is still going strong as his next project is a play once again under David Mamet, called "The Christopher Boy's Communion" in which Clark will be playing Alan.
The main director and screen-writer that Clark has based his directing and writing off of is David Mamet. He gives David credit for how he channeled his writing style in his feature film "Trust Me" as he uses his style and language elements as a focus.
When Clark Gregg graduated from NYU - Tisch School of the Arts, he graduated with a BFA in Drama. A BFA is a "Bachelor of Fine Arts" and is known as the Professional theater degree in the Arts community.
"There were two simple life-altering concepts that I picked up while at NYU, which have sustained and defined my creative life to this day. The first was to avoid the sucking vortex of “chasing work”—an often futile and soul deadening task for recent grads—by making, producing, and writing your own. That seems daunting and it was, but finding a way to do it and doing it again even when I failed taught me everything I know. The second idea was to make the kind of work you’d like to see. This provides a powerful compass because it teaches you what you care about... in my case a first film about a sex-addicted colonial theme park worker with intimacy issues."
Clark Gregg on Advice on struggling after Acting School
May 2018
NYU.edu
"The Idea that the performance that your trying to have is never any further away than when the person your acting with is a life changing tenant. I can't say enough of the gift that the combination of the beautiful theory that Mamet taught us and that the working actor Macy taught us how to use. I can't say enough about what that gave me, and that gave me a craft that i will continue practicing and humbly trying to improve at until my final breath as an actor."
Clark Gregg,
June 22, 2016
Atlantic Theater Company Member Spotlight: Clark Gregg
The style of acting that the Atlantic Theater Company teaches is called "Practical Aesthetics." There are 4 basic steps to breaking down a scene when using this technique.
-
The "Literal": The essential and most basic, uninterpretive, description of what is taking place.
-
The "Want": What does one character ultimately want the other character to say or do.
-
The "Essential Action": A universal human desire that relates to the specific and essential nature of what your character wants within the scene.
-
The "As If": This relates the "essential action" to the actor's own life.
David Mamet and William H. Macy originally conceived this technique and brought it to the NYU Class and now to the Atlantic Theater Company in which Clark Gregg is one of the most famous and notable Practitioners of this technique.
"First of all, commit the following names to memory. Caroline Seymour and Clark Gregg. The actors are twin peaks of theatrical inspiration in two thrilling staged black comedies (Mojo) Mr. Gregg is Baby, the mesmerizing man-child of Mojo. There’s a sleek sensuality about Mr. Gregg that comes to the fore in stunning moments, as when he breaks, suddenly, into a little two step across the stage. He embodies the creepy sense of peril that hands over the play all the way through to its shattering denouncement. The actor coils like a cobra in the role of Baby, the wired, unpredictable son of a murdered nightclub owner.
Listen to Mr.Gregg's baby speaking with eerie, bland sincerity of how skinny has stolen his very walk, or remembering the slaughter of a cow. (Mr. Gregg is so appealingly creepy that you forget that he's too old for the part)"
Ben Brantley, on Clark Gregg's performance in "Mojo"
New York Times, 1997
"These men think nothing of betraying one another, let alone their lovers, and, should they get married, they do so only to avoid the bother of crawling ''through the gutter to get regular sex.'' As Jack (Clark Gregg), the most cynical of the trio, puts it: ''We're men. We do terrible things. Let's admit we like them and go on from there."
When they are sensitive or caring, chances are they are pulling a trick, the desired result of which is to lure a woman into bed.
As directed with vitality by Mr. Macy on James Wolk's hip rollaway sets, the cast proves as promising as the author. The three leading men offer a deadly accurate sendup of masculine wiles, from the puppyish hysteria of Mr. Goldstein to the naive yet impenetrable narcissism of Mr. Lage to the witty, thinly veiled hostility of Mr. Gregg. "
Frank Rich's review of "Boy's Life"
New York Times; March 1, 1988
CLARK'S THEATER PROJECTS
As You Like it
Off-Broadway; Production opened 5/22/1985 (Only 3 Performances)
Directed by David Mamet/William H. Macy
Character Name: Cynical Jack
David Mamet's The Blue Hour
Off-Broadway; Vermont. Opened in 1985
Directed by Clark Gregg
David Mamet's Yes, But So What?
Off-Broadway; Vermont. Opened in 1985
Directed by Clark Gregg
A Night Out
Chicago - Off-Broadway; 1986
Directed by James Bohnen
Tom Donaghy's Audrey's Complaint
Off-Broadway; Opened in 1987
Directed by Clark Gregg
Apocalyptic Butterflies
Off-Broadway; Vermont. Opening in 1987
Directed by Clark Gregg
Fun
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened Nov 6, 1987
Directed by William H. Macy
Character Name: Matthew (a movie usher, nineteen)
The Cherry Orchard
NYC - Off-Broadway; 1987
Goodman Theater
Directed by: Gregory Mosher
Understudy
The Detective
NYC - Off Broadway; 1988
Character Name: Unknown
The Girl in Pink
Vermont - Off-Broadway, 1989
Character Name: Unknown
Reckless
NYC - Off-Broadway
Character Name: Unknown
Women and Water
Montpelier, Vermont - Off-Broadway Production opened Summer of 1988
Directed by Stephen Schacter
Other Cast Mates: Jordan Lage, Neil Pepe
Character Name: Cabell
Boy's Life
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened Feb 29, 1988 - Closed May 29, 1988
Directed by William H. Macy
Other Cast Mates: Felicity Huffman, Robin Spielberg, Theo Cohan
Character Name: Jack
Imagining America
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened May 1989
Directed by Unknown
Other Cast Mates: William H. Macy
Character Name: Clinton
Man in a Restraunt
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened June 1990
Directed by William H. Macy
Other Cast Mates: Mary McCann, William H. Macy, Neil Pepe,
Character Name: Husband
A Few Good Men
NYC - Broadway; Production opened Nov 15, 1989 - Closed Jan 26, 1991
Directed by Don Scardino
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Other Cast Mates: Tom Hulce
Character Name: Lt. Jack Ross
Under Study: Lt. J. G. Daniel A. Kaffee
The Three Sisters
A David Mamet Adaptation
Burlington Vermont - Off-Broadway; Opened August 1990
Directed by William H. Macy
Other Cast Mates: Felicity Huffman, Neil Pepe
Character Name: Vassily Vassilyevich Solyony
The Old Boy
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened May 6, 1991 - Closed June 2, 1991
Directed by John Rubinstein
Other Cast Mates: Stephen Collins, Matt McGrath
Character Name: Bud
Distant Fires
NYC/LA - Off-Broadway; Original Production opened Oct 11, 1991 - Closed Dec 1, 1991
2nd Production opened August 18, 1992 - Closed Oct 4, 1992. LA Production Closed Nov 29, 1993
Directed by Clark Gregg
Cast in NYC: Jordan Lage, Giancarlo Esposito
Cast in LA: Samuel L. Jackson, Matt McGrath
Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love (also known as the "Naked Play")
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened Sept 24, 1991 - Closed Dec 1, 1991
Directed by Derek Goldby
Other Cast Mates: Sam Rockwell
Character Name: Bernie
Nothing Sacred
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened Oct 21, 1992
Directed by Max Mayer
Other Cast Mates: Stephen Goldstein, Matt McGrath
Character Name: Bazarov
Edmond
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened Oct 1, 1996
Directed by Clark Gregg
Written by David Mamet
Cast: Jordan Lage, Neil Pepe
Mojo
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened Nov 10, 1997
Directed by Neil Pepe
Other Cast Mates: Chris Baur
Character Name: Baby
The Big Empty
Los Angeles - Off-Broadway;
Directed by Clark Gregg
Written by Clark Gregg and David Mamet
Sexual Perversity in Chicago/ The Duck Variations
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened Jan 12, 2000 - Closed Feb 6, 2000
Directed by Hilary Hinckle
Written by David Mamet
Other Cast Mates: Josh Hamilton
Character Name: Bernard
The Night Heron
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened Sept 15, 2003 - Closed Oct 7, 2003
Directed by Neil Pepe
Other Cast Mates: Chris Baur
Character Name: Griffin
The Normal Heart
Los Angeles - Off-Broadway; May 17, 2010
Staged Reading
Character Name: Ben Weeks
Happy Hour
NYC - Off-Broadway; Production opened Nov 16, 2011 - Closed Dec 5, 2011
Directed by Ethan Coen and Neil Pepe
Other Cast Mates: Amanda Quaid, Cassie Beck
Character Name: Koch/Buck
The Thrilling Adventure Hour
Los Angeles Staged Production - October 6, 2013 ( two performances)
Directed by Neil Mahoney and Aaron Ginsburg
Other Cast Mates: Alan Tudyk, Nathan Fillion, Paget Brewster, Chris Hardwick
Character Name: Captain Sandy Manlius, Mason Grantz
The Christopher Boy's Communion
Los Angeles - Off-Broadway; Production - Feb 13, 2020 - Feb 23, 2020 (11 performances only)
Directed/Written by David Mamet
Other Cast Mates: William H. Macy, Rebecca Pidgeon, David Paymer
Character Name: Alan
24 Hour Plays: The Far - Flung Four
From Home - Zoom; Production - Dec 1, 2020 (1 Night only)
Directed by Gordon Greenberg
Written by Jonathan Marc Sherman
Other Cast Mates: Noah Galvin, Josh Hamilton, Katherine McNamara & Phillip Lin
Character Name: Ben
Radio
Cross Patch
WNUR Chicago Radio, March 1985
Director: David Mamet
Revenge of the Space Pandas
NYC - National Public Radio; 1988
Director: Karen Kohlhaas
CLARK'S MOST RECENT THEATER APPEARANCES
Slave Play - Broadway - Oct 6, 2019
A Play is a Poem - Los Angeles - Off-Broadway - Sept 21, 2019
Hangman - New York - Off-Broadway - Feb. 9, 2018
Hamilton - Off-Broadway; Los Angeles, Sept 30, 2017