Andre Gregory (born
May 11,
1934) is an
American theatre director and
actor.
Gregory studied at
Harvard University.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Gregory directed a number of
avant-garde productions developed through ensemble collaboration, the most famous of which was
Alice (1970), based on
Alice in Wonderland. In the course of these experiments, he founded his own theatrical company, The Manhattan Project (1968). In 1975 he directed
Our Late Night, the first produced play by
Wallace Shawn, which began a long working relationship between the two. Shortly afterward, Gregory's growing misgivings about the role of theatre in modern life, and what he felt was a trend toward
fascism in the
United States, led him to abandon theatre abruptly and leave the country. As described in
My Dinner with Andre, he traveled to
Poland on an invitation from
Jerzy Grotowski, developed a number of experimental theatrical events for private audiences, and then spent several years in a variety of esoteric spiritual communities (such as
Findhorn) developing an interest in what could be described as
New Age beliefs.