Joseph Chaikin installed in Theater Hall of Fame

Joseph Chaikin

Joseph Chaikin (1935-2003), was installed in the Theater Hall of Fame in 2010 as director in a ceremony at the Gershwin Theater on Jan. 25, 2011 . James Nicola of the Signature Theatre presented Joe — avant-garde actor, director and playwright, creator of the Open Theatre and best known for his collaborations with Sam Shepard, who said Mr. Chaikin “used words like a sword to pierce the heart,” and Samuel Beckett, who dedicated a poem to him. Mr. Chaikin had an uncanny effect on people, partly because of what Peter Brook called his purity and his “fiery steel-blue eyes.” Famously, he fought back after a stroke to continue to create. Jim Houghton, founder and director of the Signature Theater, received the award for Joe.

Westbeth’s programming is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State. Westbeth is supported in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.