Richard Foreman

Richard Foreman (born Edward L. Friedman; June 10, 1937 – January 4, 2025) was an American avant-garde experimental playwright, director, and the founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater. Though highly original and singular, his work was influenced by Bertolt Brecht, Gertrude Stein, The Living Theatre, Surrealism and Dada. In the writing of his scripts the Dada cut-up technique was used.

Foreman often played the central godhead puppet master during his plays as he sat in the center of the audience in the director/engineer’s seat from which he controlled the sound effects and other stage craft. He often spoke parts of the script in an omniscient voice through pre-recordings.

In May of 2025, The Brooklyn Rail published a Tribute to Richard Foreman with contributions from poet Charles Bernstein, musician John Zorn, Richard Schechner, Kate Valk, Bonnie Marranca, P. Adams Sitney, Shauna Kelly, painter Susan Bee, Tony Torn, Jay Sanders, executive director and chief curator of Artists Space, Andrew Lampert, Tom Sellar, Travis Just, Felix Bernstein, Ivan Sokolov, Willem Dafoe, and artist/performer Kate Manheim.