In addition to writing a number of famous plays, van Itallie is known for writing several books as well. One of the best-known of these is his book, Tea with Demons – Games of Transformation. In this book, he includes his own personal memoir for readers to enjoy along with a set of 49 self-development games that are meant to help the reader as well.
Many of his books were there to help others learn how to write their own plays and to understand more about the process. He also wrote down some of his plays for others to read through if they were not able to attend some of the plays themselves. Some of the books that you can find from van Itallie include:
- Tea with Demons
- America Hurrah and Other Plays
- Tibetan Book of the Dead for Reading Aloud
- The Playwrites Workbook
In addition to some of the plays that were written above and some of the books, van Itallie did not shy away from some controversy as well. He is known for writing the script to a gay pornographic film known as America Creams. He wrote this under a pseudonym and it wasn’t until a number of years later that people knew he was responsible for this and some other hardcore pornographic films of the time.
Teaching the Next Generation
Many of the books that van Itallie wrote were meant to help aspiring writers learn how to write some of their own plays as well. He was able to discuss some of his own plays and provided self-development games that would help as well. He also taught various writing and performance workshops to others throughout the years and has made his way back to places like New York University, Harvard University, Princeton University, and Yale University to name a few in order to help teach performance art and scriptwriting. He was highly sought-after by many of these prestigious universities to help teach some of his skills.
For some time, van Itallie lived in western Massachusetts on a farm. It was there that he was the director of Shantigar Foundation, which was a place he was able to teach theatre and meditation in-person to those as well. This has allowed a number of the younger generation to learn some of the new skills from the master and decide if they would like to get into this field as well.
His Death
Van Itallie died recently in September of 2021. The official cause of death is believed to be pneumonia. The world of theater has been forever changed through this play write and the work that he was able to bring to the stage. Whether you are a fan of some of his bigger works or you loved some of his trilogies, van Itallie has made a big splash throughout the years and was never afraid to jump into a bit of controversy as well.
