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Creator
Freeman, Erica Brown
Call number
*T-Mss 2011-259
Physical description
3 linear feet (5 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Erica Brown Freeman papers on the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, *T-Mss 2011-259. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Scripts, production records, published articles, correspondence, programs, ephemera, photographs and artwork document actor and director Erica Brown Freeman's association with the avant-garde and experimental Ridiculous Theatrical Company in New York City and its leaders Charles Ludlam and Everett Quinton over more than ten years. In addition to many annotated scripts and production documentation, of particular note are the complete production notes for Ludlam's The Mystery of Irma Vep, production documentation for Ludlam's Camille in both New York and London, various drafts of Quinton's script for Hunchback of Notre Dame, and an annotated typescript (1964) for When Clowns Play Hamlet by H. M. Koutoukas. Also included are two life masks of Charles Ludlam and Everett Quinton and two paintings by Charles Ludlam, gifts to Freeman from Ludlam.

Biographical/historical information

Erica Brown Freeman (1946-2024) acted and directed under the stage name Eureka with the Ridiculous Theatrical Company for twenty years. Freeman was born in Ipswich, England, and graduated from Antioch College (Yellow Springs, Ohio) in the late 1960s. After college, she spent ten years as a puppeteer with the Nicolo Marionettes in New York City. In 1977, Adam Kilgour, who worked with both Nicolo and the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, received a commission to create a puppet show called Dragon Daze. Charles Ludlam, co-founder of the Ridiculous, met Eureka while recording the soundtrack for that show and invited her to join the Ridiculous. Ludlam suggested the stage name Eureka to Freeman and she continued her career under that name. Under Ludlam's leadership, Eureka performed in six productions. After Ludlam's death in 1987, Eureka became a principal collaborator with artistic director Everett Quinton. Under Quinton's leadership, Eureka performed in 14 productions and directed four. After the Ridiculous closed in 1997, Eureka continued collaborating with Quinton and was the Assistant Director of the long-running 1998 revival of The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Westside Arts Theatre (New York. N.Y.) and directed Quinton in his play Twisted Olivia in Texas in 2009. Freeman died in Brooklyn, New York, in 2024.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of James Freeman, 2011.

Using the collection

Location

Billy Rose Theatre Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor