An influential figure in experimental theater, writer and drag performer Ethyl Eichelberger is most remembered for his repertoire of self-penned solo plays based on the lives of the great women of history, literature, and myth.
He was born James Roy Eichelberger in Pekin, Illinois on July 17, 1945. He starred in many high school plays and attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where he also performed in plays, including the title roles in Oedipus Rex and Hamlet his freshman year. In his sophomore year, he transferred to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.
After graduating in 1967, Eichelberger began to act at the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island under the direction of Adrian Hall. After working as the troupe's lead character actor for seven years, he moved back to New York City, changed his name to Ethyl, and became a member of Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company. There he acted and designed wigs. Ludlam, a major influence on his theatrical vision, encouraged him to write his own plays.
From 1972 until his death in 1990, Eichelberger wrote and performed in nearly forty plays. Most of these works are solo plays written in free-form verse. In them, he played a range of grand dames from Jocasta, Medea, and Klytemnestra to Lola Montez, Nefertitti, and Carlotta, Empress of Mexico. He won an Obie Award in 1982 for Lucrezia Borgia.
( more about Ethyl Eichelberger here )
