Peter Glazer

Playwright, Director, Educator

prgtheater@gmail.com

EMPLOYMENT

Emeritus Professor, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, 2024 - present.

Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. July 2004 - 2024.

Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies.  July 2001 to June 2004.

Director and Playwright for the stage, 1984 – present.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Performance Studies, Northwestern University, 2001. 

M.A. in Performance Studies, Northwestern University, 1997. 

B.A. in Drama, Yale University, 1975, cum laude, departmental distinction in Drama.  

GRANTS, AWARDS, RESIDENCIES

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) – artist residencies to develop and workshop stage adaptation of Karen Shepard’s novel The Celestials, 2016 - 2023.

Humanities Research Fellowship, UC Berkeley, Sabbatical Year, 2019-2020.

Moore Institute Visiting Research Fellowship, National University of Ireland (NUIG), Galway, 2018.

Moore Institute Visiting Research Fellowship, NUIG, Galway, 2016.

Puffin Foundation Special Grant, $15,000, to support student production of Heart of Spain, and related commemorative events, recognizing the 80th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War. UC Berkeley, 2016.

San Francisco Foundation Grant, $3,500, to support TDPS production of Heart of Spain: A Musical of the Spanish Civil War and related commemorative events, 2016.

Puffin Foundation Grant in Theater, $2,500, to complete the musical score for Heart of Spain: A Musical of the Spanish Civil War, and present the songs in concert at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, March, 2015.

Mellon Project Grant, UC Berkeley. Freedom Beat: National Anthems, Patriot Games, Emblems of Belief – A Musical Performance of Scholarship. The maximum grant was awarded: $32,000. 2012-2013.

Humanities Research Fellowship, UC Berkeley, Sabbatical Year, 2012-2013.

Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award Nominations – Best Production of a Musical and Best Director of a Musical, Woody Guthrie’s American Song, Marin Theater Company, Mill Valley, CA. 2010.

Colorado Theater Guild Henry Award Nominations – Outstanding Production of a Musical, Woody Guthrie’s American Song; Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Peter Glazer. Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Boulder, 2008.

Research Assistantship in the Humanities Grant, UC Berkeley. National Anthems: American Songs of Patriotic Contention, 2007 – 2008. 

Rockefeller Humanities Foundation Fellowship: “Theorizing Cultural Heritage.”  One month residency at Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Washington, DC.  Spring, 2007.

Humanities Research Fellowship, UC Berkeley, 2005.

PUBLICATIONS

Books

La Guerra Es Bella de James Neugass (Autor), Peter N. Carroll (Introducción), Peter Glazer (Introducción), Felipe Osanz (Traductor). Global Rhythm Press; Edición: 1. 3 de febrero de 2014.

War is Beautiful: An American Ambulance Driver in the Spanish Civil War, a lost memoir by James Neugass, edited and with an introduction by Peter N. Carroll and Peter Glazer. The New Press, New York, NY. October 2008.

Radical Nostalgia: Commemorating the Spanish Civil War in America.  University of Rochester Press, August 2005.

Essays and Articles

“Pete Seeger: Veteran of the Good Fight (1919 – 2014).” Obituary. The Volunteer. March 2014.

“Songs of the Spanish Civil War: The New Edition.” The Volunteer, September, 2014.

“Making History Matter.” The Volunteer. Vol 25, 2, (2008), p. 6. 

“‘El Puño en Alto’: El Mundo Escénico Y La Guerra Española, Nueva York, 1936-1939.”  In Frente Al Fascismo: Nueva York Y La Guerra Civil Española. Peter N. Carroll y James N. Fernandez, editors. Museo de la Ciudad de Nueva York & NYU Press, 2008.  

 “‘The Lifted Fist’: Performing the Spanish Civil War, New York City, 1936-1939.”  In Facing Fascism: New York & The Spanish Civil War.  Peter N. Carroll and James N. Fernandez, editors.  New York University Press, 2007.  

CDs

“Woody Guthrie’s American Song – Live from the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse” A concert production of the award-winning musical. Double CD set. Peter Glazer, Executive Producer. Released 2014.

“Songs of the Spanish Civil War,” released 2014 by Smithsonian Folkways, SFW40188. This is a high quality reissue of two previous Folkways releases, with extensive liner notes and song annotations by Peter Glazer.

CREATIVE WORK

Video Documentary

150 Years: Remembering North Adams’ Chinese Immigrants. Written, produced and narrated by Peter Glazer; sponsored by the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, with the North Adams Historical Society and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. First aired June 13, 2020, 150 years to the day after 75 young Chinese laborers arrived to work in North Adams Massachusetts. 

Writing for the Stage 

(productions marked with a plus (+) were also directed by Peter Glazer)

+The Celestials by Peter Glazer, based on the novel by Karen Shepard. Workshop held at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), North Adams, MA. March 2021.

+The Celestials by Peter Glazer, based on the novel by Karen Shepard. Two readings held at MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA. February – May, 2020. [NOTE: The final two readings,  part of the MASS MoCA performance season, were canceled due to Covid-19].

Woody Guthrie’s American Song conceived and adapted by Peter Glazer, songs and writings by Woody Guthrie.

Silver City Community Theater, Silver City, NM 2025

Mendocino Theater Company, Mendocino, CA 2023 &2024

Skidompha Public Library, Damariscotta, ME  2023

Raven Players, Healdsburg, CA 2022

Arc Stages, Pleasantville, NY, 2022.

Raven Performing Arts Theater, Healdsburg, CA, 2022.

Axiom Repertory Theater, Redding, CA, 2022.

Vashon Repertory Theater, Vashon Island, WA, 2021.

Axiom Repertory Theater, Redding, CA, 2021.

Penobscot Theater Company, Bangor, ME, 2019.

PenArts, Pensacola, FL, 2019.

Palm Beach Dramaworks, Palm Beach  FL, 2018.

Company of Fools, Hailey, ID, 2018.

Heritage Theater Festival, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 2017. 

Intrepid Theater Company, San Diego, CA, 2016.

Commonweal Theater Company, Lanesboro, MN, 2015.

St. Michael’s Playhouse, Colchester, VT, 2015

Meadville Community Theater, Meadville, PA, 2015

Chenango River Theater, Greene, NY, 2015

Shadowland Stages, Ellenville, NY, 2015

Western Stage, Salinas, CA, 2014.

+Concert Performance, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, Berkeley, CA, 2014

+UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, 2012

Camelot Theater, Talent, OR, 2012

+Concert Performance Celebrating Woody Guthrie’s 100th Birthday, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, Berkeley, CA, 2012

Actors’ Summit, Akron, OH, 2012

Ferndale Rep, Ferndale, CA, 2012

Lost Nation Theater, Montpelier, VT, 2011

Iowa Theater Artists Company, Amana, Iowa, 2011

Arizona Stage Co., Tucson and Phoenix, AX, 2011

+Marin Theater Company, Mill Valley, CA, 2009

Stage 3 Theater Company, Sonora, CA, 2009

Vermont Stage Company, Middlebury VT, 2009

Heritage Theater, Grand Rapids, MI, 2009

Theater Three, Dallas, TX, 2009

Blindfaith Theater, Chicago, IL, 2008-9

Ramapo College of New Jersey, Ramapo, NJ, 2009

+20th Anniversary Production, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Boulder, CO, 2008

Vermont Stage Co., Burlington, VT, 2008

White River Valley Players, Rochester, VT, 2008

Elmira College, Elmira, NY, 2008

Stage 3, Sonora, CA, 2008

Willows Theater Company, Concord, CA, 2006

University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, 2005

Ukiah Players Theater, Ukiah, CA, 2004

Foothill Theater Co., Nevada City, CA, 2004

Southern Appalachian Repertory Theater, Mars Hill, NC, 2004

University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, 2004

The Sherman Players, Sherman, CT, 2004

Anchorage Community Theater, Anchorage, AK, 2004

Southern Appalachian Repertory Theater, Asheville, NC, 2004

Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 2004

NOTE: 40 additional productions were presented between 1988 and 2004

+The Freight & Salvage Woody Guthrie All Stars produced by Peter Glazer and Suzy Thompson, written and directed by Peter Glazer. Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, April 2018.

Come Dance With Me in Ireland: A Pilgrimage to Yeats Country, by Patrick Ball and Peter Glazer. Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, Berkeley, CA, November 22, 2017.

+Heart of Spain: A Musical of the Spanish Civil War. Book and Lyrics by Peter Glazer, Music and Lyrics by Eric Bain Peltoniemi. UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, Zellerbach Playhouse, 2016.

+Heart of Spain: A Musical of the Spanish Civil War. Concert Performance, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, Berkeley, CA 2015.

+Freedom Beat: Songs of Nation, Songs of Dissent. A performance of scholarship, written, compiled, and narrated by Peter Glazer; music by MAD NOISE, Misner & Smith, Randy Craig. Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, June, 2014.

+Citizen Tom Paxton. Songs by Tom Paxton, conceived by Peter Glazer and Tom Paxton. A musical based on the songs of celebrated songwriter. Writers Retreat, TheaterWorks, Mountainview, CA, 2014.

+The Golden Door, by Melanie O‘Reilly and Peter Glazer, a musical based on the lives of 3 women who came to America from Ireland in the 19th century. Writers Retreat, TheaterWorks, Mountainview, CA, 2006.

+Foe adapted by Peter Glazer from the novel by J. M. Coetzee. World premiere, UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, Zellerbach Playhouse, 2004.

Plays in Development

The Celestials, a stage adaptation of the historical novel by Karen Shepard. Artist’s residency with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) Summer 2016, Winter 2017; workshop at Williams College, 2018; public readings, MASS MoCA 2020, 2021.

Come Dance with me in Ireland: A Pilgrimage to Yeats Country, a musical play written in collaboration with Celtic Harper Patrick Ball. Residency grants, National University of Ireland Galway, June 2016 and May 2018.

Additional Stage Directing

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, 2023.

The Late Wedding by Christopher Chen, UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, 2022.

A Murder of Crows by Mac Wellman. UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, 2015.

Silence by Harold Pinter and Springtime by María Irene Fornés. UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, 2009.

Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare. UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, 2008.

Seven Lears by Howard Barker. UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, 2006.

The Magic Banjo by Michael Miles. Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Milwaukee, WI, 2004.

Marisol by Jose Rivera, UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, 2003.

Commemorative Activities and Performances

150 Years: Remembering North Adams’ Chinese Immigrants, produced, directed and narrated by Peter Glazer. Streamed on the MASS MoCA Facebook page, 150 years to the day after the arrival of 75 Chinese laborers at the Calvin T. Sampson shoe factory. June 13, 2020.

Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) Live Online Gala, Facebook Live Event. Co-writer. Featuring Dr. Mona Hannah-Attisha, Sarah Lee Guthrie, Pedro and Luis Pastor, among others. Also featured was the awarding of the 2019 Puffin-ALBA Human Rights Award of $100,000 to No More Deaths/No Más Muertes. May, 2020.

UC Berkeley Commemorates the 80th Anniversary of the Spanish Civil War. Program Coordinator for a range of commemorative events on the Berkeley campus, including film screening at Pacific Film Archive, archival exhibits at Bancroft Library and The Townsend Center for the Humanities, a poetry reading in collaboration with the Department of English, book talks, seminars, a Human Rights public discussion, Heart of Spain – A Musical of the Spanish Civil War, and the annual gathering of the Bay Ares Friends and Family of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.  Fall 2016.

This Land is Our Land: Internationalism, Citizenship, Resistance. Co-writer and director. Commemorative event honoring the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, and awarding Puffin ALBA Human Rights Award to United We Dream, a national network of youth-led immigrant activist organizations fighting for the rights of millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States. 77th Annual Celebration. Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, October, 2013.

Despedida Anniversary Commemoration. Performer and co-creator of commemoration remembering celebratory events in 1938 honoring the American volunteers in the Spanish Civil War upon their departure from Spain. King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, New York University, 2008.

What They Stood For. Co-writer, director, and keynote speaker for the 71st annual commemoration honoring the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, and celebrating the new monument on the Embarcadero on the San Francisco waterfront, dedicated that day. Post Street Theater, Oakland, CA, 2008.

The Lives and Times of the Lincoln Battalion.  Director, co-producer, script and media consultant, Calvin Simmons Theater, Oakland, CA and Skirball Center, New York University, 2005

Patriots Act! Co-writer and director for the 67th annual commemoration honoring the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Oakland, CA, and New York, NY, 2004  

ADDITIONAL TEACHING

Williams College, Williamstown, MA. Williams Winter Study, “Performing the Novel: The Celestials.” January, 2017.

Central Academy of Drama, Department of Dramatic Literature, Beijing, China. “Adaptations of Shakespeare to the Stage.” Seminar and Workshop, June 22-24, 2012.

CONFERENCE PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS

“‘AIrish’: Exploring Irish Theater and Artificial Intelligence.” UC Berkeley Institute for European Studies. Co-discussant with Catherine Flynn, director of Irish Studies, UC Berkeley. May 25, 2021.

“Freedom Beat: Aesthetics and Poetics of National Anthems in the US, Post-1960s and Post-9/11.” Association for the Study of Arts of the Present (ASAP), Pittsburgh, PA, 2011.

“Prestidigitality: The Grain of the Analog, The Gloss of the Digital.” Performance Studies International Conference (PSI), Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2011.

“Left Rights: Premature Anti-Fascists, Progressive Dissents and Legacies of Resistance.”  Performance Studies International Conference (PSI), London, England, June, 2006.

“Breathing Memory: Radical Nostalgia and the Spanish Civil War.”  Northwestern University, co-sponsored by the Departments of Theater, Performance Studies, and the Chicago Friends of the Lincoln Brigade, March 2006.

“The Skin of the World.  The Spanish Civil War: Image/Music/Text.” King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, New York University, November 2005.

“Patriot Acts, Commemoration, and the Play of War.” American Theater in Higher Education Conference (ATHE), Toronto, July 2004

“Olivier’s Tears: Art, Research, and Inspiration.”  When is Art Research Conference, Arts Research Center, UC Berkeley.  Chaired panel on Theater, Dance and Performance Research, February 2004  

Event Producer, Curator, or Moderator - Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

Isabel Allende, author. Campus visit related to TDPS production of the play The House of the Spirits, adapted from her novel. Ms Allende and playwright Caridad Svich were interviewed by director Michael Moran in front of my lecture class in the auditorium at BAMPFA, and TDPS students and faculty were invited, Spring 2019.

Caridad Svitch, playwright. Residency related to the TDPS production of her play The House of the Spirits. Activities included the event with author Isabel Allende, department visit and talk, and talkback after a performance of The House of the Spirits in Zellerbach Playhouse, Spring 2019.

Mac Wellman, Playwright. Residency related to my production of his play A Murder of Crows, co-sponsored by Department of English, Cal Performances, and Berkeley Arts + Design. Activities included class visits, onstage interview by Carey Perloff, and panel discussion with the performance collective Rude Mechs, moderated by Prof. Lyn Hejinian, 2015. 

Joyce Carol Oates, author. I interviewed Ms. Oates on stage in Durham Studio Theater, in conjunction with one of her plays being workshopped by students, Spring 2012.

PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY SERVICE

Board of Governors, Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA), the national organization of scholars, artists, and activists devoted to the preservation and dissemination of the history of the American volunteers in the Spanish Civil War.  2001 – present.

Vice-Chair, Board of Directors, Berkeley Society for the Preservation of Traditional Music, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, Berkeley, CA, 2018-2019.

Member, Board of Directors, Berkeley Society for the Preservation of Traditional Music, Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse, Berkeley, CA, 2010-2019.

Member, Board of Directors, Crowded Fire Theater Company, San Francisco, CA 2007-2016.

Chair, Board of Directors, Crowded Fire Theater Company, San Francisco, CA 2011-2015.