Howard Rubenstein is an American physician, playwright and translator of classical Greek drama.
Life and works
Rubenstein was born in 1931 in Chicago and attended Lake View High School. He was a magna cum laude graduate of Carleton College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi and won the Noyes Prize for excellence in ancient Greek studies. He received his MD degree from Harvard Medical School in 1957 and was a physician for over 40 years, most of them at Harvard University. For several years, he was a medical consultant for the State of California. Now retired from the practice of medicine, he lives with his wife Judy in San Diego, where he writes and enjoys his grandchildren. He has published translations of Agamemnon by Aeschylus and The Trojan Women by Euripides. His translations have been praised by the leading classical scholars P. E. Easterling, Regius Professor, Cambridge, and Oliver Taplin, Regius Professor, Oxford. The production of his adaptation of The Trojan Women won more Billie Awards than any other play of the 2000-1 San Diego theater season. He has also published stage adaptations of Jean Racine'sBritannicus and the 20th century Yiddish dramatic poem, The Golem, by H. Leivick. He has also written an historical comic tragedy Tony and Cleo and "Maccabee" an epic poem in free verse based upon the books of Maccabees. He has also written SHILOH: A Narrative Play, The Defiant Soul, and Romance of the Western Chamber—a Musical with Music by Max Lee, based on the classic Chinese comedyXI Xiang Ji; World Premiere in Rubenstein's English, Dongpo Theatre, Hangzhou, China 2011; Western Premiere, TADA! Theater, off-off Broadway, 2017; west coast USA premiere, Don Powell Theater, San Diego, July 2020. Rubenstein’s adaptation of “Prometheus Bound” by Aeschylus is scheduled for production off-Broadway, September 2020, by The Tank Theater.
Selected works
Agamemnon: A play by Aeschylus translated from the Greek into English with reconstructed stage directions, introduction, notes and synopsis, Granite Hills Press, 1998.
The Trojan Women: A play by Euripides; translated from the Greek into English and adapted in response to Aristophanes’ and Aristotle's criticism, Granite Hills Press, 2002.
Britannicus: A play in two acts, adapted from Jean Racine's Britannicus, Granite Hills Press, 2009.
The Golem: Man of Earth: A play in two acts based on historical events, a medieval Jewish legend, kabbalah, and the Yiddish dramatic poem by H. Leivick, Granite Hills Press, 2007.
Tony and Cleo: A play in two acts, Granite Hills Press, 2008.
Maccabee: An epic poem in free verse based upon the books of Maccabees, Granite Hills Press, 2004.
