Джон Коллинз: Режиссер и основатель Elevator Repair Service.

American director (born 1969)

John Collins (born October 17, 1969 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina) is an American experimental theatre director and designer. He is the founder and artistic director of Elevator Repair Service (ERS) and has directed or co directed all of its productions since 1991. Most notable among his work with ERS is Gatz, a verbatim performance of the entire text of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Between 1991 and 2006, Collins worked as a sound and lighting designer, primarily designing sound for The Wooster Group from 1993 to 2006.

Collins was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and grew up in Vidalia, Georgia. Collins attended Duke University in 1987 88 before transferring to Yale in 1989. He graduated cum laude with a combined degree in English and Theater Studies from Yale University in 1991. At Yale, he met future long term collaborators and ERS co founders including novelist James Hannaham, playwright/performer Rinne Groff, writer/producer Steve Bodow, choreographer Katherine Profeta, and performers Susie Sokol and Leo Marks.

Collins — along with Hannaham, Groff, Profeta, Colleen Werthmann, and Bradley Glenn — formed Elevator Repair Service in the fall of 1991.

Collins's best known work with ERS is Gatz, an 8 hour performance of the entire text of The Great Gatsby. Work on the production began in 1999, but halted after ERS could not obtain performance rights to the book. In June 2004, Collins put together a 3 hour workshop performance of the first half of the novel at Brooklyn's Collapsible Hole venue. In the fall of 2004, Collins approached the Fitzgerald Estate a second time to attempt to secure rights for a full production of Gatz, which by that time had incorporated the entire text of the novel. Negotiations continued for several months. Late in 2004, with plans in place for a short run, The Fitzgerald Estate informed the company that performance rights would not be granted. Notwithstanding, the ensemble continued with a limited number of open rehearsals at The Performing Garage in January 2005. Later that year, ERS was able to secure a licensing agreement with The Fitzgerald Estate to perform Gatz internationally and at select U. S. venues. Gatz officially premiered at The Kunsten Festival des Arts in Brussels in 2006 and had its U. S. premiere in Minneapolis at The Walker Art Center later that year. Gatz had its New York debut at The Public Theater in 2010. Ben Brantley of The New York Times called Gatz “The most remarkable achievement in theater of the decade.” As of 2016, Gatz has played over 25 domestic and international venues. Extended runs have been presented at The Public Theater, The Sydney Opera House, The Noël Coward Theatre on London's West End and The American Repertory Theater. Collins has attended every performance.

By 2011, Collins's work with ERS was being seen regularly off Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) and The Public Theater. Collins's first production on this scale was an adaptation of William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury (New York Theatre Workshop, 2008). ERS was company in residence at New York Theatre Workshop from 2006 to 2016. Other off Broadway productions include The Select (The Sun Also Rises) at NYTW, Arguendo at The Public Theater, Fondly, Collette Richland (by Sibyl Kempson) at NYTW and remounts of both Gatz and The Sound and the Fury at The Public Theater. Collins's production of Measure for Measure with ERS premiered at The Public Theater in 2017.

Collins's work with ERS has been seen in 14 U. S. cities as well as in England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, Norway, Germany, The Netherlands, France, Portugal, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, Chile and The United Arab Emirates. In 2012, Gatz played a limited run on London's West End at The Noël Coward Theatre. Other notable venues include The Holland Festival, The Vienna Festival, The Berlin Festival, The Adelaide Festival, and The Sydney Opera House.

Upon arriving in New York after graduating from Yale, Collins began to work as a sound designer for Target Margin Theater. Between 1991 and 2006, he contributed sound work to seven Target Margin productions. Collins also worked as sound technician/operator on Richard Foreman’s productions The Mind King, and Samuel’s Major Problems. As a sound designer, Collins is best known for his work with The Wooster Group, contributing sound design and operator work on Frank Dell’s The Temptation of Saint Anthony, The Emperor Jones, Fish Story, The Hairy Ape, House/Lights, To You, The Birdie and Poor Theater. Between 1991 and 1995, Collins designed lighting for several small productions off off Broadway in New York. He has also designed lighting for ERS productions No Great Society and Room Tone.