Research Catalog

Title

New York Shakespeare Festival records, 1954-1992.

Author

New York Shakespeare Festival Productions.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Papp, Joseph.
• Goodstein, Gerry
• Jeffry, Alix
• Joseph, George E.
• Marcus, Joan
• Migdoll, Herbert
• Ohringer, Frederic
• Regan, Ken
• Rosegg, Carol
• Swope, Martha
• Friedman-Abeles (New York, N.Y.) pht

Description

854.5 lf. (1824 boxes) and 15 models

Summary

The New York Shakespeare Festival records (1954-1992) measure approximately 900 linear feet and consist of scripts, correspondence, inter-office memoranda, production materials, reports, financial records, photographs, and memorabilia.

Subjects

• Scripts
• Costume design > New York (State) > New York
• Miller, Jason > That championship season
• Theater > Production and direction
• Theatrical producers and directors
• New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater > New Jazz at the Public
• Swados, Elizabeth > Alice at the palace
• Theatrical productions > New York (State) > New York > 20th century
• Delacorte Theater (New York, N.Y.)
• Shange, Ntozake > For colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
• Memorabilia
• Papp, Gail Merrifield
• Playwriting
• Rabe, David > Sticks and bones
• Dramatists, American > 20th century
• Theater > New York (State) > New York
• Hispanic American theater > New York (State) > New York
• Rabe, David > In the boom boom room
• Moses, Robert, 1888-1981
• Hamlisch, Marvin > Chorus line
• Gersten, Bernard
• New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater > Mobile Theater
• Musicals
• Memorandums
• Photographs
• Heckscher Theater (New York, N.Y.)
• Festival Latino en Nueva York
• Financial records
• Hare, David, 1947- > Plenty
• Public Theater (New York, N.Y.)
• New York Shakespeare Festival Productions
• Papp, Joseph
• Technical drawings
• Programs
• Swados, Elizabeth > Runaways
• Musical theater > United States > 20th century
• Havel, Václav
• MacDermot, Galt > Hair
• Stage lighting
• Swatches
• Weill, Kurt, 1900-1950 > Threepenny opera
• Contracts
• Sullivan, Arthur, 1842-1900 > Pirates of Penzance
• Clippings
• Correspondence
• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Dramatic production
• Charts
• Promptbooks

Genre/Form

• Charts.
• Clippings.
• Contracts.
• Correspondence.
• Financial records.
• Memorabilia.
• Memorandums.
• Photographs.
• Promptbooks.
• Programs.
• Scripts.
• Swatches.
• Technical drawings.

Note

• The New York Shakespeare Festival Records are held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and have been separated into four groups: paper records in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, music in the Music Division, audio materials in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound and video materials in TOFT.

Access (note)

• Collection is open to the public, although Oral History materials in Series 1 and some Correspondence in Series V are restricted until 2043. Series XIV Oversized Materials is not fully processed and currently unavailable for research, with the exception of set models, which are available by appointment only. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Source (note)

• Gail Papp and New York Shakespeare Festival

Biography (note)

• Joseph Papp founded the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1954 in New York City.

Processing Action (note)

• Separated

Call Number

*T-Mss 1993-028

OCLC

NYPW98-A518

Author

New York Shakespeare Festival Productions.

Title

New York Shakespeare Festival records, 1954-1992.

Restricted Access

Collection is open to the public, although Oral History materials in Series 1 and some Correspondence in Series V are restricted until 2043. Series XIV Oversized Materials is not fully processed and currently unavailable for research, with the exception of set models, which are available by appointment only. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Biography

Joseph Papp founded the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1954 in New York City. It was initially chartered as the Shakespeare Workshop, an actors' workshop presenting Shakespeare and his Elizabethan contemporaries free of charge in the basement of the Emmanuel Presbyterian Church and in the Heckscher Theater. The original aim was to cultivate and encourage interest in Shakespeare and classic drama, to present an annual Shakespeare festival, and to build an Elizabethan-style stage to present Shakespeare's works. During the fifties, Papp fought to obtain financial support from the City of New York in order to establish a subsidized, free Shakespearean theater. Eventualy, Papp won a court battle with New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses to keep his Shakespeare productions free to the public. In 1957, the New York Shakespeare Festival flatbed truck, which toured the city parks and playgrounds with performances of Shakespeare, broke down near Belvedere Lake in Central Park. On that site they constructed the Delacorte Theater, which opened in 1962.

Papp relentlessly promoted the concept of free Shakespeare. He solicited support from foundations, corporations, political officials, and individual philanthropists. During the sixties, Papp extended the reach of the New York Shakespeare Festival by bringing Shakespeare to the outer boroughs of New York City and the tri-state area. He created the Mobile Theater, which toured the public schools, religious institutions, and civic organizations. In 1965, the New York Shakespeare Festival purchased the landmark Astor Library building on Lafayette Street, and the city funded its conversion into the new Public Theater. Papp then added to the New York Shakespeare Festival's mission a new mandate; to produce new American plays. The Public Theater was inaugurated in 1967 with the production of the musical HAIR. The Public Theater became the administrative home of the New York Shakespeare Festival and the laboratory for many original plays and musicals by David Rabe, Elizabeth Swados, Thomas Babe, Miguel Piñero, and many others. It was also home to many actors who found recognition through their association with the Festival, such as Colleen Dewhurst, James Earl Jones, Raul Julia, Kevin Kline, and Meryl Streep.

During the seventies, the New York Shakespeare Festival's production schedule became increasingly prolific, moving many productions to Broadway, most notably TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, A CHORUS LINE, THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON, and FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE (WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF). The New York Shakespeare Festival earned an international reputation for theatrical innovation and received numerous awards. Papp expanded the Festival into the areas of dance, music and poetry, producing new plays by young playwrights that reflected contemporary issues. In 1974, the Festival was invited to become a constituent of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. During the next four years, the New York Shakespeare Festival produced IN THE BOOM BOOM ROOM, SHORT EYES, and THE THREEPENNY OPERA, among others, and achieved both notoriety and acclaim for its innovative staging of classics and production of new, often controversial plays.

Papp was ever seeking new audiences for the theater, which he believed to be a powerful social force. In the seventies, The New York Shakespeare Festival expanded into television production with David Rabe's STICKS AND BONES and several Shakespeare plays, then into motion pictures with adaptations of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE (1983) and PLENTY (1985). The New York Shakespeare Festival participated in a theater exchange program with the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. In 1984, the Festival Latino en Nueva York was launched through Papp's efforts and encouragement, and became an annual event. In addition, the Belasco Project was created to expose high school students to Shakespeare on Broadway, while the PITS Program taught them how to write plays. Papp became ill in the late eighties, and played a less active role in Festival administration and productions. His last major theatrical work was his direction of Bill Gunn's FORBIDDEN CITY, while his involvement in the controversy over NEA funding marked his final act of public advocacy. Joseph Papp died on October 31, 1991.

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Finding Aid

Added Author

Papp, Joseph.

Goodstein, Gerry, photographer.

Jeffry, Alix, photographer.

Joseph, George E., photographer.

Marcus, Joan, photographer.

Migdoll, Herbert, photographer.

Ohringer, Frederic, photographer.

Regan, Ken, photographer.

Rosegg, Carol, photographer.

Swope, Martha, photographer.

Friedman-Abeles (New York, N.Y.) Photographer

Research Call Number

*T-Mss 1993-028