Charles Marowitz

Photo by Johan VogelIn 1996, critic, playwright, director and commentator Charles Marowitz brought his rich pedigree to Cal State Long Beach. A theatrical gadfly since the 1950s (when he worked with the legendary Peter Brook in England), the Malibu resident was hired as dramaturge for the university's graduating acting program—California Repertory Company—and was a notable addition to the staff.

We profiled him then and, more recently, printed a piece he wrote about Cal Rep's program. It was a blistering critique that detailed Marowitz's disenchantment with the university program. According to a student enrolled at the time, it went off like a bomb in the theater department.

Since then, Marowitz finally found a permanent space for the theater company he founded in 1990, the Malibu Stage Company, which staged its first production in the space in June. True to his contentious past, Marowitz fired off a blistering letter to the Los Angeles Times after that paper's theater critic, Michael Philips, wrote an equally blistering review of the company's first play. The review ran in the Times' counterpunch section. (Joel Beers)