Robert Patrick papers, ca. 1940-1984

Links

• View catalog record
• View PDF finding aid (881.9 KB)

Creator

Patrick, Robert, 1937-

Location

Billy Rose Theatre Division

Extent

• 22 linear ft. (42 boxes)

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Scope/Contents Notes

While the papers of Robert Patrick span several decades, the majority of the collection was created from 1975-1979. The heart of the collection is the production materials (including many photographs) from the numerous productionsof Patrick's works. Kennedy's children is particularly well represented in all of its international incarnations.Among many others, The Haunted Host, Mercy Drop, My Cup Ranneth Over and T-shirts all have openly homosexual themes and each contributed to the growth of gay theater. The scripts are heavily annotated and can provide insight into the playwright's working process. Patrick wrote abouthis involvement with the birth of off-off Broadway and gaytheater in various articles, that can be found in the Articles sub-series, including a folder solely regarding Caffe Cino. Additionally, the Press sub-series contains interviews that elaborate on his history of unwavering support of alternative theater, gay theater, and gay rights. Other than some of the correspondence and photographs, this collection contains very little personalmaterial.

The collection includes extensive correspondence from the novelist Mary Renault, producer Claire Donner, contemporary playwrights Geraldine Aron, Daniel Curzon, Mark Edwards, John Glines, William Houck, Loretta Lotman, Ross MacLean and Doric Wilson (including a typescript of his play Ever After), actors Magie Dominic, Walter MichaelHarris and Harry Hart-Browne and writers on gay and off-off Broadway theater Aaron Fricke, Ezra Goldstein, Blaise Koch and Mark Milstein.

Biographical/Historical Notes

Robert Patrick, a founding father of the off-off Broadway scene and major contributor to the growth of gay theater, was born Robert Patrick O'Connor on August 27, 1937 in Kilgore, Texas. He came to New York City in 1961, and wassoon presenting his work at Caffe Cino, a coffee house that was also a pioneering off-off Broadway theater. Patrick's first play, The Haunted Host, proved to be a breakthrough in gay theater. Over the next ten years his plays were produced over 130 times in a variety of underground theaters (like La Mama and the Old Reliable Theatre Tavern). In 1973 Patrick was nominated for a record five Obies. The same year, the Clark Center mountedthe first production of Kennedy's Children. In 1974 this play began a two-week run at the King's Head Pub Theatre in Islington, England which was extended several times andeventually moved to a theater in London's West End. International productions quickly followed, including one on Broadway at the Golden Theatre. Throughout the 1970s and into 1980s Patrick continued to write at a feverish pace, while simultaneously traveling to see his works produced. He often gave guest lectures, directed, or in other ways personally helped with productions around the world.

From 1979 to 1982 Patrick wrote a regular column about off-off Broadway for the theatrical paper Other Stages. In1990 he directed his last play in New York, Hello, Bob, about his experiences with Kennedy's Children. Patrick settled in California in 1993. In 1994 he published TempleSlave about the origins of off-off Broadway. Patrick received the Robert Chesley Award for Lifetime Achievementin Gay Theatre in 1997. He continues to write and is living in Los Angeles.

Controlled Access Terms

• Patrick, Robert, 1937-
• Off Off-Broadway theater.
• Gay theater.
• Scripts.
• Production materials.
• Lyrics.
• Dramatists.

Additional Creator Names

• Aron, Geraldine, 1941-
• Curzon, Daniel.
• Dominic, Magie, 1944-
• Donner, Claire.
• Edwards, Mark R.
• Fricke, Aaron.
• Glines, John.
• Goldstein, Ezra, 1948-
• Harris, Walter Michael, 1951-
• Hart-Browne, Harry, 1952-
• Houck, William R., Jr.
• Koch, Blaise.
• Lotman, Loretta.
• MacLean, Ross.
• Milstein, Mark.
• Renault, Mary.
• Wilson, Doric, 1939-2011.
• Patrick, Robert, 1937- Haunted host.
• Patrick, Robert, 1937- Kennedy's children.
• Patrick, Robert, 1937- My cup ranneth over.
• Patrick, Robert, 1937- T-shirts.
• Wilson, Doric, 1939-2011. Forever after.
• Caffe Cino.
• La Mama Experimental Theatre Club.