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Circle Repertory Company.
Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.
The Circle Repertory Company records document equally the creative process and the business aspects involved with operating a repertory company, but it is predominantly a script collection. Scripts are divided into two main series: produced and unproduced. In most cases there are several drafts for each script, which may include annotated and prompt scripts. This collection is an important source of material on Lanford Wilson, Circle Repertory's founder and resident playwright. There is alsoa great amount of production material, including prop lists, costume plots, scene breakdowns, stage diagrams, lighting and sound plots, and cues, as well as a number ofproduction photographs. Administrative records, including literary office reports, meeting minutes, and guidelines, illustrate the practical business of running a theater company. The collection, however, contains very little correspondence or personal information about the founders,members, writers, directors, or actors.
Circle Repertory Company, the innovative and award-winningOff-Broadway repertory theater company, was founded in 1969 by Marshall W. Mason, Lanford Wilson, Rob Thirkield, and Tanya Berezin. Originally named Circle Theater Company, the initial plan for the company was to establisha pool of artists (actors, directors, playwrights and designers) who would work together in the creation of plays. Circle Rep became home to some of the most prolifictalent in American theater and it was celebrated for its productions of new plays, particularly those in the style that has been labeled "lyric realism." Founder and resident playwright, Wilson, who is often regarded as the father of the genre, wrote many plays for the company, including The Hot l Baltimore (1972-1973 season), The Fifth of July (1977-1978 season), and Talley's Folly (1979-1980 season) for the company, most often collaborating with director, Mason.
In addition to producing new work, in 1979, Circle Rep initiated a new project, producing revivals of classic plays. By 1982, the company had outgrown its own space andfor the first time had to present its work on other stages. Even with expansion, the development of new works continued to remain a primary focus. In addition to its major productions, Circle Rep ran a Projects-in-Progress series. Plays selected for this series received a week of rehearsal and a four-performance run. Several of these plays later went on to become major productions. The literary office for Circle Rep was one of the few that read unsolicited scripts. The company also ran two readingseries, Friday Readings and Extended Readings, and it supported new voices by collaborating with the Dramatists Guild on a series called the Young Playwrights Festival, begun in 1981. Plays with writers ranging from 8 to 18 were chosen for full production or staged readings. Some of these playwrights, including Kenneth Lonergan and Jonathan Marc Sherman, went on to successful writing careers as adults. After Mason's departure in 1987, Berezin became Circle Rep's artistic director until 1994. In 1995, Austin Pendleton succeeded her, with actress Lynne Thigpen as associate artistic director. Originating in the 1960s, at a time when many experimental theaters arose, this company outlasted virtually all others, but Circle Rep eventually would close its doors in 1996.
Wisconsin Pond Life ... (Detroit Publishing Company postcards). NYPL Photography Collection.
One of 700,000 pictures in the NYPL Digital Gallery
