Título: Orson Welles
Seção: Mercury Theatre
Background: George Orson Welles was born May 6, 1915, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, son of Richard Head Welles (b. Richard Hodgdon Wells, November 12, 1872, near St. Joseph, Missouri; d. December 28, 1930, Chicago, Illinois) and Beatrice Ives Welles (b. Beatrice Lucy Ives, September 1, 1883, Springfield, Illinois; d. May 10, 1924, Chicago).

Conteúdo: Breaking with the Federal Theatre Project in 1937, Welles and Houseman founded their own repertory company, which they called the Mercury Theatre. The name was inspired by the title of the iconoclastic magazine, The American Mercury. Welles was executive producer, and the original company included such actors as Joseph Cotten, George Coulouris, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Arlene Francis, Martin Gabel, John Hoyt, Norman Lloyd, Vincent Price, Stefan Schnabel and Hiram Sherman.  "I think he was the greatest directorial talent we've ever had in the [American] theater," Lloyd said of Welles in a 2014 interview. "When you saw a Welles production, you saw the text had been affected, the staging was remarkable, the sets were unusual, music, sound, lighting, a totality of everything. We had not had such a man in our theater. He was the first and remains the greatest."  The Mercury Theatre opened November 11, 1937, with Caesar, Welles's modern-dress adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar -- streamlined into an anti-fascist tour de force that Joseph Cotten later described as "so vigorous, so contemporary that it set Broadway on its ear." The set was completely open with no curtain, and the brick stage wall was painted dark red. Scene changes were achieved by lighting alone. On the stage was a series of risers; squares were cut into one at intervals and lights were set beneath it, pointing straight up to evoke the "cathedral of light" at the Nuremberg Rallies. "He staged it like a p

user: What was the Mercury Theatre?

assistant: Welles and Houseman founded their own repertory company, which they called the Mercury Theatre.

user: How did he come up with the name?

assistant: name was inspired by the title of the iconoclastic magazine, The American Mercury.

user: Who else worked with Welles?

assistant: the original company included such actors as Joseph Cotten, George Coulouris, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Arlene Francis,

user: Was any one else part of his crew?

assistant: Arlene Francis, Martin Gabel, John Hoyt, Norman Lloyd, Vincent Price, Stefan Schnabel and Hiram Sherman.

user: When did the theater first open?

assistant: 1937,

user: What play did they first perform?

assistant: The Mercury Theatre opened November 11, 1937, with Caesar, Welles's modern-dress adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar

user: What was said of this performance?

assistant: "When you saw a Welles production, you saw the text had been affected, the staging was remarkable, the sets were unusual, music, sound, lighting, a totality of everything.

user: Did they have other shows they did?

assistant: The Shoemaker's Holiday;

user: What did they perform after that?

assistant: They were followed by Heartbreak House (April 29, 1938) and Danton's Death (November 5, 1938).

user: Was that the last performance they had?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER