David Rush (1940-2024)
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Playwright and co-founder of Chicago theater Center Stage David Alan Rush has died, just a few months shy of his 84th birthday.
David earned his doctorate in playwriting at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and became not only an influential educator (at Texas State University, Governors State University, Columbia College, and Southern Illinois University) but also an accomplished playwright and librettist. He received critical acclaim and awards for many of his plays and saw his work produced at Mark Taper Forum, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, Chicago Dramatists, Stage Left and others. His plays explore the complexity of human relationships; many are set against backdrops of historical figures and events, while others are thought-provoking commentaries about current social issues. "Beethoven/Karl", "Leander Stillwell", " The Prophet of Bishop Hill", "Police Dear Near Far", 'One Fine Day", "Nureyev's Eyes", and an adaptation of Sophocles's "Antigone" are among them. He won two Emmy awards for episodes he wrote and helped produce for a Chicago-based Jewish television program, as well as authoring several books about the art of playwriting. In the late 1960s he and his artistic partner Errol Pearlman founded an off-Loop theater, Center Stage, in Chicago, where they mounted original plays and musicals. Their life-long partnership produced many pieces including "The Fools" and "The King of New London". He spent his favorite summers at Harand Camp of the Theatre Arts in Wisconsin, directing hundreds, if not thousands, of campers in classic American musicals. Always the educator, he loved introducing new generations to the theatre, and he had a profound influence on many of their lives. David was head of the playwriting program at Southern Illinois University for 15 years, and retired at the age of 71. His students would describe him as intense and inspirational. His summer campers considered him devoted and enthusiastic. His friends and family knew him to be thoughtful and kind. David is predeceased by his older brother, Henry (Sonny) but leaves behind his husband, Wayne; daughter, Rebecca; son, Miles; daughter-in-law, Miriam; grandchildren, Raphaella and Elijah; his younger brother, Sam; sister-in-law, Judy; four nephews; ex-wife, Fran Rush; her husband, Bob Branson; and countless friends and admirers. |