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Creator
Circle Repertory Company
Call number
*T-Mss 1995-021
Physical description
207.5 linear feet (415 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation

Circle Repertory Company Records, *T-Mss 1995-021. 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.Restrictions apply
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

Circle Repertory Company, originally named Circle Theater Company, was founded in July 1969, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W. Mason, playwright Lanford Wilson, director Rob Thirkield, and actress Tanya Berezin. The plan was to establish a pool of artists- actors, directors, playwrights and designers- who would work together in the creation of plays.

Biographical/historical information

Circle Repertory Company, originally named Circle Theater Company, was founded in July 1969, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W. Mason, playwright Lanford Wilson, director Rob Thirkield, and actress Tanya Berezin. The plan was to establish a 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 prolific talent in American theater. Founder and resident playwright, Lanford Wilson, wrote Hot L Baltimore (1972-1973 season), The Mound Builders (1974-1975 season), The Fifth of July (1977-1978 season), Talley’s Folly (1979-1980 season), and A Tale Told (1980-1981 season) for the company. The list of playwrights who worked at circle Rep includes numerous award-winning playwrights, such as John Bishop, Michael Cristofer, Arthur Kopit, David Mamet, Murray Schisgal and Milan Stitt.

Circle Repertory Company provided the genesis for acclaimed productions such as Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love (1982-1983), Larry Kramer’s The Destiny of Me (1992-1993), William M. Hoffman’s As Is(1984-1985), Terrence McNally’s Master Class (1994), Craig Lucas’ Prelude to a Kiss (1989-1990), Jon Robin Baitz’s Three Hotels(1992-1993), Albert Innaurato’s Gemini(1976-1977), and Jules Feiffer’s Knock Knock (1975-1976).

Circle Rep received numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize, Tony Awards, Obies, Drama Desk Awards and the 1991 Lucille Lortel Award.

A distinguished group of actors developed from Circle Repertory Company. The list of actors who either called Circle Rep home or participated in specific productions includes John Malkovich, William Hurt, Kathy Bates, Alec Baldwin, Christopher Reeve, Jeff Daniels, Jessica Tandy, Judd Hirsch, Joan Allen, Demi Moore, Gary Sinise, Swoosie Kurtz, Timothy Busfield, and Patricia Wetting.

Other Circle Rep alumni includes Conchata Ferrell, Trish Hawkins, Beatrice Straight, and Helen Stenborg.

In 1979 Circle Rep initiated a classics project, producing two plays in repertory; Hamlet, and Schiller’s Mary Stuart. By 1982 Circle Rep had outgrown its theater and for the first time had to present its work on other stages. Running parallel to the classics, Circle Rep became celebrated for its productions of new plays, particularly those in the style that has been labeled “lyric realism,” with Lanford Wilson being the father of the genre. Marshall Mason directed dozens of Wilson’s plays starting with Sextet (Yes) in 1971.

In addition to 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 went on to become major productions the following season.

The literary office was one of the few that read unsolicited scripts and responded with detailed criticism. To the end of developing scripts, the company ran two reading series, Friday Readings and Extended Readings.

The company collaborated with the Dramatists Guild on a series called Young Playwrights Festival, founded by Stephen Sondheim in 1981. For the festival, ten plays with writers ranging from 8 to 18 were chosen for full production or staged readings. Plays were produced at Circle Rep with professional actors. Among the playwrights were Kenneth Lonergan and Jonathan Marc Sherman.

After Marshall Mason’s departure in 1987, Tanya Berezin became Circle Rep’s artistic director until 1994. In 1995, Austin Pendleton succeeded her, with actress Lynn Thigpen as associate artistic director.

Originating in the Sixties, a time when many experimental theaters arose, this company outlasted virtually all others. They closed their doors in 1996 after 27 years.

Scope and arrangement

The Circle Repertory records are predominantly a script collection. Scripts are divided into produced and unproduced. Produced scripts are arranged by season and further divided into major productions, projects-in-progress, and special events. In most cases there are several drafts, 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. The collection documents creative output and equally the business of running a theater company.

The collection contains a great amount of production material such as prop lists, costume plots, scene breakdowns, stage diagrams, lighting and sound plots, and cues that may be of interest. Also, there are a good number of production photographs.

The collection contains papers that illustrate the practical business of running a theater company such as literary office reports, meeting minutes, and guidelines.

The collection contains very little correspondence or other personal information about the founders, members, writers, directors, or actors.

The Circle Repertory Company records are arranged in twelve series:

  • Series I: Administrative Files
    1969 - 1994
    12 boxes

    Administrative Files include correspondence to and from company members, internal documents pertaining to the running of the company, literary office reports demonstrating the business of that office, and the meeting minutes of various boards and departments within the company.

  • Series II: Produced Scripts
    1969 - 1996
    71 boxes

    Produced Scripts are organized chronologically by season. Within a given season, there may be further division into major productions, projects-in-progress and special events. There are often several consecutive drafts of a script, annotation and prompt scripts. The collection is not a complete record of the history of Circle Repertory productions.

  • Series III: Unproduced Scripts
    1931 - 1994
    216 boxes

    Categorization in Unproduced Scripts does not necessarily imply that the script was rejected. Rather, “unproduced” covers all submitted scripts, some of which were produced on a smaller scale in the Playwright’s Lab series, Friday Readings or Extended Readings series. As in the case of produced scripts, there are often annotated and consecutive drafts for a given script.

  • Series IV: Other Writings
    undated
    1 box

    Other Writings include film scripts, poems, short stories, and an interview possibly used as research or submitted.

  • Series V: Script Development Papers
    1977 - 1995 and undated
    6 boxes

    Script Development papers consist of production materials for the Circle Repertory Company Lab and Reading series, as well as script evaluation reports written by staff members.

  • Series VI: Production Material
    1965 - 1995 and undated
    45 boxes

    Production Material includes one or more of the following items for each production: cast list, contact sheets, scene breakdowns, schedules, set drawings, prop lists, sound plots and cues, lighting plots and cues, costume plots, costume drawings, press releases and reviews, and financial papers.

  • Series VII: Tours and Festivals
    1981 - 1990 and undated
    3 boxes

    Tours & Festivals papers include production material, expense reports, and travel and accommodation information.

  • Series VIII: Press
    1959 - 1994 and undated
    13 boxes

    The Press series is made up of press books compiled by Circle Repertory’s communication department, loose clippings, and press releases.

  • Series IX: Legal & Financial Papers
    1969 - 1991
    8 boxes

    Legal and Financial Papers include expense records, insurance papers, tax papers, royalty statements, contracts, proposals, and agreements.

    • Sub-series 1 - Financial Papers, 1969-1991
    • Sub-series 2 - Contracts, 1973-1989 and undated
    • Sub-series 3 - Organizations, 1970-1988 and undated

  • Series X: Programs
    1974 - 1993
    4 boxes

    One or more unique published program for a production was maintained with the collection, as well as flyers announcing Lab and Reading series events.

  • Series XI: Photographs
    1969 - 1993 and undated
    30 boxes

    Photographs are divided by material type including: prints, slides, negatives and contact sheets. The majority of the series is made up of production photographs with a few non-production photographs of company, casts, parties, and benefits at the end.

  • Series XII: Oversized Materials
    1974 - 1992 and undated
    6 boxes

    Oversized Material includes plans and plots, posters, production photographs, and reviews for display in a lobby.

    • Sub-series 1 - Press Books, 1979-1994 and undated
    • Sub-series 2 - Loose Clippings, 1959-1990 and undated
    • Sub-series 3 - Press Releases, 1972-1991 and undated

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Material was donated in 3 shipments: the first in Sept. 1995, the last two in Nov. 1996. Received from: Milan Stitt, Executive Director Circle Repertory Co. 632 Broadway, 6th Floor NY, NY 10012

Processing information

Processed by Lynn Lobash; Machine-readable finding aid created by Lynn Lobash.

Separated material

Audiovisual materials separated from archival collections are cataloged individually and can be found in the Library catalog. Search CATNYP, The New York Public Library catalog.

Sent to Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound

  • Audio tapes
    • Constance & The Musician - Music by Mel Marvin, book and lyrics by Caroline Kava, 1988
    • The Don Juan and the Non - Don Juan - Music by Neil Radisch, lyrics by David Goldstein and James Milton, book by Marvin Cohen, James Milton, and David Goldstein, undated
    • Dysan - Play by Patrick Meyers, includes soundtrack and group discussion, 1983
    • Eligies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens - Music by Janet Hood, book by Bill Russell, undated
    • Frank's Wild Years - Music by Tom Waits, 1984
    • Off Key - Music by Richard Adler and Bill Davis, 1993
    • Oh! Sister - Music by Gerald Busby, libretto by Craig Lucas, 1993
    • Pink Cadillac,undated
    • Quilters - Music by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, undated
    • Rhiannon Toward Home,1990
    • The Shakers - Music by Norman L. Berman, book and lyrics by Marsha Norman, undated
    • Space: An Opera in Capsule Form - Music by Edmund Cionek, libretto by Dennis Deal, 1991
    • Spencer Family Ozark Mountain Jubilee - Music and lyrics by Robin and Lucinda Williams, book by Mary - Sue Price, 1993
    • Idea Cassette, undated
  • 45s
    • Chances Are by Johnny Mathis, 1957
    • Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Kn ight and the Pips, 1973
  • Audio cassettes
    • Circle Rep Tape 2, undated
    • J. Lippman 19 of 20, 1993
    • J. Lippman 20 of 20, 1993
  • Video Cassette
    • The Madness of Lady Bright by Lanford Wilson, undated
    • David R. Zyla, Fall 1993 Collection

Sent to the Billy Rose Theatre Division - T - cabinet

  • Awards
    • AT & T On Stage, 1990
    • Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Achievement Off Broadway, 1990
    • Pride Agenda - New York State's Lesbian and Gay Political Voice - Artistic Vision Award, 1993

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

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.

The contract specifies that: "Prompt books cannot be copied for 25 years from the date of the play's opening."

Access restrictions

Library policies on photocopying apply.