Ashbery Resource Center: John Ashbery's influences and interests -- theater, dance and performance

I've always been very sensitive to the devices of the theatre - the ways of getting people on and off the stage, the ways of arranging things that we're conscious of even when we're being taken in. Very often this is more exciting for me than what actually happens in the play - the part we're supposed to pay attention to.

—John Ashbery (Performing Arts Journal, Winter 1979)

ASTERISKS * indicate citations connected to specific works by Ashbery, as acknowledged by Ashbery and so identified here.

All other listings have been identified by Ashbery as being of particular interest to him or influential in some way, and as such may provide insight into Ashbery’s work.

See the statement of methodology for important cautions and disclaimers.

List of sources

Anouillh, Jean*
Balanchine, George
Daudet, Alphonse*
Feudeau, Georges
Firesign Theatre
Gide, André*
Grabbe, Christian Dietrich*
Illuminations
Labiche, Eugene
Pirandello, Luigi*
Racine, Jean
Sardou, Victorien
Scribe, Augustin Eugène
Shakespeare, William
Stein, Gertrude
Strindberg, August
Vitrac, Roger
Wilson, Robert

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