Found 21 collections related to Experimental theater -- New York (State) -- New York

John Edward Heys is an actor/filmmaker/director/writer who performed with numerous performance groups including the Angels of Light and Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company. He worked with numerous artists including Charles Ludlam, Ethyl Eichelberger, Jackie Curtis, Cookie Mueller, Bill Vehr, Tomata du Plenty, and Gary Indiana. Heys also created several one man shows including his portrayal of Diana Vreeland and La Mamounia; directed Alba Clemente in Rene Ricard's translation of Jean Cocteau's A Human Voice; and created a documentary about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The collection contains materials related to the people and personalities whom Heys knew and the performances that Heys was involved in or attended. A significant portion of the collection concerns performances Heys created. Materials also concern Charles Ludlam, the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, Jackie Curtis, and Cookie Mueller. Materials include correspondence, photographs, clippings, publicity, and advertising posters. less

The Living Theatre was founded by Judith Malina and Julian Beck in 1947. The records consist of scripts and related performance papers. Also included are business papers, financial records, clippings, diaries, photographs and correspondence. There is little material reflecting the personal lives of Malina and Beck. less

Kevin Bradigan was a photographer, actor, theater technician, and a member of John Vacarro's Play-House of the Ridiculous. The Kevin Bradigan papers primarily document Bradigan's personal life and involvement in the Play-House of the Ridiculous and other experimental theater from the late 1960s to the 1980s. The collection also holds some papers of performers Jackie Curtis and Douglas Fisher. less

Mac Wellman is an American playwright and poet, known for his experimental work in theatre. He is the author of more than 60 plays, including Cellophane, Terminal Hip, and Sincerity Forever. The Mac Wellman papers, Additions date from 1979 to 2008 (bulk dates: 2000 to 2008) and contain manuscript drafts and revisions of plays, poetry, and fiction, as well as posters, reviews, a program, letters, photographs, and ephemera. less

John Mangano was a stage director, actor, writer, stage manager and theater administrator. The John Mangano papers, dating from around the 1940s to 1988, document Mangano's life and career through scripts, photographs, correspondence, art, writings, and programs. less

The Theater for the New City is an Off-Off Broadway troupe best known for experimental theater projects and outdoor spectaculars. Founded in 1970 by Crystal Field, George Bartenieff, Theo Barnes and Lawrence Kornfeld, the Theater for the New City was based in Manhattan's West Village in its early years. Rising real estate costs forced a move to the East Village in the late 1970s, by which time the group was led by co-artistic directors Field and Bartenieff. In addition to hosting street happenings and an annual Village Halloween Costume Ball, the troupe has presented the work of such playwrights as Sam Shepard, Charles Ludlam, Maria Irene Fornes, and Richard Foreman. The Theater for the New City ephemera consists of clippings, programs, fliers, photographs and related documents pertaining to the activities of the Theater for the New City troupe. The clippings include reviews of TNC shows as well as a number of feature stories concerning the group's real estate difficulties. less

The Ron Vawter Papers the document the life and career of the actor Ron Vawter (1948-1994), reflecting his career in motion pictures, television and the theater, especially his work with The Wooster Group. The papers include production materials, scripts, photographs, slides, publicity material, personal papers and correspondence. The papers span the period of 1963-1994, with bulk dates being 1981-1994. less

The diaries of Judith Malina include personal reflections, a history of many aspects of The Living Theatre, and a view of the avant-garde cultural life of New York in the 1940's and 1950's. Malina documents her own struggles as a young woman and artist and also the struggle, together with Julian Beck, to create The Living Theatre. Among their contemporaries and collaborators were James Agee, John Cage, Joseph Campbell, Merce Cunningham, Dorothy Day, Richard Edelman, Paul Goodman, Lou Harrison, Alan Hovhaness, Lester Schwartz and Philip Smith. Malina discusses her work on various productions including: THE AGE OF ANXIETY, DR. FAUSTUS LIGHTS THE LIGHTS, THE IDIOT KING, PHEDRE, AND TONIGHT WE IMPROVISE. Personally, Malina discusses her relationships, her family, her views of the world of the 1950's and her commitment to pacifism. Her involvement as a pacifist, and her imprisonment with Dorothy Day and others, is described in some detail. The final years of the diary (Feb. 1956-June 1959) are incomplete. They relate to the search for and renovation of the 14th Street theater, which opened in 1959. These entries are written by several people who are not identified. less

Charles Ludlam, actor, director, and playwright, was born April 12, 1943. He began his career in 1966 with the PlayHouse of the Ridiculous, both as a performer and playwright. Artistic differences caused Ludlam to leave and form his own company, The Ridiculous Theatrical Company, which achieved international recognition. Ludlam's three most successful plays were BLUEBEARD, STAGE BLOOD, and CAMILLE. Although the company attracted grant funding, it was always on the edge of the avant-garde and finances were uncertain. The company made its final tour with Ludlam in the first months of 1980 and then disbanded. Ludlam died on May 28, 1987. The collection consists of diaries, notebooks, scripts, set and costume designs, clippings, transcripts of interviews, and manuscript pages from a published collection of Ludlam's plays. This material was collected as research material for The Complete Plays of Charles Ludlam. The material provides valuable insight into every stage of Ludlam's playwriting process from the development of an idea to its realization on stage. Since Ludlam relied so heavily on improvisation, the information contained in the notebooks and plot outlines in this collection cannot be found anywhere else. less

The Cubiculo Theatre opened in 1968 as an off-off Broadway experimental theater and home for the National Shakespeare Company. This collection consists of fliers, press releases, programs, and reviews that record the various dance, theater, poetry, music, and multimedia performances held at the theater from 1968 to 1977. The collection also includes correspondence, biographical information on artists, and a few photographs. less

A theatrical organization founded by a group of writers and artists whose common aim was the production of new and experimental plays, the Provincetown Players began performing in 1915 in members' homes in Provincetown, Mass. In 1916 the Players took up residence in Greenwich Village, NY and launched the career of Eugene O'Neill with a production of his Bound East for Cardiff. Called the first minute book; contains constitution, resolutions, meeting minutes, membership lists, correspondence and financial reports, both typed and handwritten. less

Nada, founded as Theater Club Funambules and later known as Todo con Nada, was a Manhattan theater company that staged experimental work for twelve years until it closed in 2000. Aaron Beall, Tim Carryer and Babs Bailey began Theater Club Funambules in 1988 in a small space on Ludlow Street in New York's East Village. After Carryer and Bailey departed in 1991, Beall changed the names of the company and its theater to Nada. Other venues operated by the company included two midtown spaces, Nada 45 on 45th Street, and Nada Show World in a former strip club near the Port Authority bus terminal. The Nada company was known for festivals of works by such playwrights as Richard Foreman and Charles Ludlam, and for festivals that consisted entirely of unconventional adaptations of HAMLET and FAUST. Veterans of Nada include playwright Kirk Wood Bromley. The company was evicted from its Ludlow Street space in November 2000 for nonpayment of back rent. The Nada ephemera consists of clippings, fliers, postcards, and other documents pertaining to the theatrical company Nada, also known as Theater Club Funambules and Todo con Nada. The clippings include reviews of individual productions as well as general feature stories about the Nada company, its history, and its artistic director Aaron Beall. Nada was a co-sponsor of the First Annual New York International Fringe Festival in 1997, and a program for that festival is included. less

The Builders Association is a New York-based performance and media company that creates original productions based on stories drawn from contemporary life. The Builders Association records consist of production files from all Builders Association productions; administrative and financial files; and production materials from shows in which Marianne Weems was involved prior to the founding of Builders Association (including productions she worked on with Ron Vawter at the Wooster Group). less

George E. Joseph (1922-2013) was the staff photographer for the New York Shakespeare Festival/the Public Theater from 1956 to 1993, photographing many productions at the Delacorte Theater, Public Theater, and other locations around New York City. Actors of note represented in the collection include James Earl Jones, Colleen Dewhurst, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, Raul Julia, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, and many more. The George E. Joseph photographs include prints, negatives, contact sheets, color slides, and paper material chronicling the production and institutional history of the New York Shakespeare Festival/the Public Theater. less

Adam Berger, artist. Consists of 52 portraits, in various medium including crayon, pastel, ink and wash, all identified on the back, most signed. The subjects, who were connected to avant garde theater in New York City in the main, are: Anthony Harvey (1), Al Carmines (3), Betty Williams (5), Robert Wilson (3), Lamar Alford (2), Richard Barr (5), his dog (1), Roger Morgan (3), Joseph Papp (1), John Guare (5), Tom Eyen (3), Ellen Stewart (3), Jean Claude van Italie (4), Joe Chaikin (3), Richard Foreman (1), Charles Ludlam (5), James Purdy (1) and Richard Flagg (3). Also includes one promotional poster. less

The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, was a fringe theater festival that was held between 1997 and 2019 in New York City, and was one of the largest fringe festivals in North America. The New York International Fringe records document the submission process of productions that were eventually staged at the festival, as well as select administrative materials. This collection is dedicated primarily to the application materials of shows that were accepted to the festival, consisting of jury evaluations, participant agreements, press releases, marketing materials, programs, correspondence, photographs, slides, scores, scripts, blurbs, bios, resumes, audiovisual materials, and tech survey forms, sometimes with diagrams attached. less