Mordecai Gorelik (1899 - 1990) was a theatrical designer who also wrote, produced and directed plays. He was a 1920 graduate of the Pratt Institute, and worked principally as a scene designer. However, he also designed costumes, directed lighting and taught theater. He was a research professor in theater at Southern Illinois University

Southern Illinois University

Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...

 from 1960 to 1972 and taught at San Jose State College. He is the author of the classic book ((New Theaters for Old)), published in 1940 and still used today in universities, theater departments. Gorelik was also the American expert on the work of Bertold Brecht and EPIC Theater.
He married Frences Strauss in 1936, they had two children a son Eugene Gorelik and a daughter Linda Gorelik. Frences Strauss died on June 5,1966.

Gorelik created scenic designs for Men in White

Men in White

-Film and theatre:* Men in White , a 1933 drama written by Sidney S. Kingsley* Men in White , an American drama film* Men in White , a comedy film by National Lampoon Inc...

, Golden Boy

Golden Boy

Golden Boy is a drama by Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced on Broadway by The Group Theatre in 1937. Odets' biggest hit was made into a 1939 film of the same name, starring William Holden in his breakthrough role, and also served as the basis for a 1964 musical.-Plot:It focuses on Joe...

, Tortilla Flat

Tortilla Flat

Tortilla Flat is an early John Steinbeck novel set in Monterey, California. The novel was the author's first clear critical and commercial success....

, Casey Jones

Casey Jones

John Luther Jones was an American railroad engineer from Jackson, Tennessee, who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad...

, All My Sons

All My Sons

All My Sons is a 1947 play by Arthur Miller. The play was twice adapted for film; in 1948, and again in 1987.The play opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947 and ran for 328 performances...

, Desire Under the Elms

Desire Under the Elms

Desire Under the Elms is a play by Eugene O'Neill, published in 1924, and is now considered an American classic. Along with Mourning Becomes Electra, it represents one of O'Neill's attempts to place plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy in a rural New England setting. It is essentially a...

, The Flowering Peach, A Hatful of Rain

A Hatful of Rain

A Hatful of Rain is a 1957 dramatic film. The movie was a rarity for its time in its frank depiction of the effect of drug addiction.It is a medically and sociologically accurate account of the effects of morphine on an addict and his family ....

, The Plough and the Stars, and Volpone.

Gorelik was also the translator and adapter of 1963's The Firebugs, by Swiss playwright Max Frisch

Max Frisch

Max Rudolf Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist, regarded as highly representative of German-language literature after World War II. In his creative works Frisch paid particular attention to issues relating to problems of human identity, individuality, responsibility, morality and political...

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External Links

• Mordecai Gorelik Papers, 1900-1975 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Special Collections Research Center.