To honor the radical critical legacies of Noël Coward and HB Studio founders Herbert Berghof and Uta Hagen, HB Studio and the Noël Coward Foundation have collaborated to offer a unique pair of Spring 2025 courses, Witness to History: The Testimony Project. These two classes – Frank Wood‘s Testimony: Theater as Witness to Our Times and Christopher Burney and Fran Kirmser‘s American Scoreboard: How Did We Get Here? – explore the use of courtroom testimony and verbatim transcript within the theater. Coward’s well-known reputation for humor is underpinned by his role as a serious social critic and provocateur who persistently challenged convention during the politically repressive 1950s and 1960s. We hope these workshops help connect a new generation of actors to Coward and his inquisitive spirit, as well as show how testimony continues to be used effectively in our current tumultuous era. These workshops will also feature educational activities including scene study, podcasts, and live public events (save the dates: Testimony showcase on April 22 and American Scoreboard showcase on May 19).
In the first class, Testimony: Theater as Witness to Our Times, Tony Award-winning actor Frank Wood will explore Heinar Kipphardt’s In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer and additional texts that use testimony to observe the structures and systems of our times. Wood will explore how Kipphardt’s work uses the notion of “testimony” as an artistic tool, examining the structures and rhetoric of authority, in conflict with a singular creative mind and independent moral voice.
Kipphardt’s text is an especially appropriate choice as Berghof acted in an early production of the play in 1969 at Lincoln Center. Berghof’s experience as a refugee – a rising theater artist who had experienced the repression and shutdown of theaters in Europe – shaped his artistic priorities and his teaching. He fostered a rich sense of community and sanctuary within HB Studio while also challenging his students on deep artistic and moral levels. We want to honour that history by bringing Berghof’s legacy and Kipphardt’s timely, important work to a new generation of theatre artists.
Other texts we may explore include Bertolt Brecht’s testimony before the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee and excerpts from Millie Barranger’s book on the theater women who gave testimony to HUAC, Unfriendly Witnesses, as well as (through scenes or conversations) – Saul Levitt’s The Andersonville Trial, Moisés Kaufman’s Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, Tina Satter’s Is This a Room? and Mojisola Adebayo’s The Interrogation of Sandra Bland.
With the second workshop, American Scoreboard: How Did We Get Here?, we will revisit our partnership with American Scoreboard, led by Tony-nominated director Christopher Burney and Tony-winning producer Fran Kirmser. Through the exploration of historic transcripts and documents, participants will uncover the legacy of the nation—bringing pivotal moments, influential voices, and untold stories to life on stage. Participants will engage in hands-on exercises to craft compelling narratives, shape authentic character voices, and construct dramatic scenes rooted in history. This workshop culminates in a collaborative staged reading, showcasing the power of documentary theater to illuminate the past and provoke meaningful dialogue about the present.
A cornerstone of HB’s curriculum is the cultivation of the historical imagination–our ability to place ourselves with immediacy, urgency, and compassion, in the specific circumstances of another time. Through study of seminal works in The Theatre of Fact, and the use of transcripts to create new theater, participants will apply these skills to illuminate connections between past and present.
“It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” — Noël Coward, Blithe Spirit
Project made possible with support from the Noël Coward Foundation. The Noël Coward Foundation was set up as a charitable trust in 2000 by Graham Payn and Dany Dasto. Its aim is to award grants to educational and professional development projects across the performing arts and to continue the keen interest Coward himself took in charitable work during his lifetime. The Foundation is proud to support a diverse range of outstanding organisations working in theatre, music, playwriting, technical training, academic research and many other areas.
