BENTLEY, ERIC (RUSSELL)

born Sept. 14, 1916, Bolton, Lancashire, Eng. critic, translator, and stage director responsible for introducing the works of many European playwrights to the United States and known for his original, literate reviews of theatre and critical works on drama. Bentley studied at the University of Oxford (B.A., 1938; Litt.B., 1939). His Ph.D. dissertation from Yale University (1941) was expanded into the book A Century of Hero Worship (1944; reissued as The Cult of the Superman, 1969). From 1948 to 1951 Bentley directed in numerous European cities, including Dublin, Zurich, and Padua. In 1950 in Munich he worked with Bertolt Brecht on a production of Brecht's play Mother Courage. Concurrent with his directing, Bentley contributed reports on European theatre to Theatre Arts and the Kenyon Review in the United States. Bentley's translations of Brecht and reviews of European theatre won him recognition and various grants in the United States. From 1974 to 1982 he was professor of theatre at the State University of New York (Buffalo), and from 1982 he taught at the University of Maryland (College Park). Bentley's criticism is noteworthy for covering practical, aesthetic, and philosophical aspects of theatre, and it stems from a belief that art must rescue humanity from meaninglessness. Rejecting simple theories, Bentley's books are exhilarating for the enthusiasm with which he embraces a blend of reason and creativity. Criticized by some for his negative opinion of the Broadway stage and popular theatre in general, Bentley is defended by others who maintain that his beliefs are based on a solid critical approach. His The Life of the Drama (1964) has been hailed as one of the best general books on the theatre ever written. Other books include The Playwright as Thinker (1946; Eng. ed. The Modern Theatre, 1948), In Search of Theater (1953), The Theory of the Modern Theatre (1968, rev. ed. 1976), Brecht Commentaries (1981), and Thinking About the Playwright (1987).