Theatre Resources
The Society's holdings for studying the early
American theater
are rich, varied, and found throughout the collections
of
books, manuscripts,
newspapers,
periodicals,
children's
literature, and graphic
arts. Basic subject browsing in the online catalog
yields
interesting citations under headings such as
"drama,"
"theater," "plays,"
"Children's plays,"
"playbills," "actors,"
"promptbooks,"
to name but a few. Several of the smaller collections
can
be searched through inventories on this website. For
more
information on theatre resources, read about the
Society's
collection of plays
and librettos.
Books
Among the highlights of theater materials in the
books collection
is Royall Tyler's play The Contrast, first
performed
at the John Street Theatre in New York City in 1787,
and later
printed in 1790. This play, a landmark in American
theater
history, was the first comedy written by an American
and produced
by a professional company. The engraved frontispiece
is from
a drawing by William Dunlap (1766-1839), a producer,
playwright,
actor, historian, and artist. Many theater historians
consider
Dunlap to be the "father of the American
drama."
The Society's copy of Dunlap's A History of the
American
Theatre (1832) is a pioneering chronicle of the
American
stage. This memoir, along with his posthumously
published
diaries, are among the invaluable primary sources for
studying
the early American theater. The range of reference
materials
is extensive, and includes George C.D. Odell's 15
volume Annals
of the New York Stage, (1927-1949). This stunning
source
details all aspects of the New York stage from
colonial times
through 1894. Modern scholarly works are also well
represented.
Several of the studies are based on research
undertaken at
AAS, such as Renée Sentilles' recent book
Performing Menken
(2003), an interdisciplinary study of the
controversial
actress and poet Adah Isaacs Menken. Audiences flocked
to
the theater in droves to see her perform the title
character
Mazeppa in the play, Mazeppa; or, The Wild Horse of
Tartary.
Manuscripts
While the AAS manuscript
collections do not have theater as a particular
focus,
there are a number of collections related to the
subject.
The Society owns a number of plays in manuscript, such
as
“Rustic Love: A Dialogue in two acts" was
written
by Yale College student Leonard Withington for
performance
at the college commencement in 1814. The play has
hypocrisy
as its theme and concerns a country family whose
virtues are
almost destroyed by a confidence man posing as a
fashionable
gentleman. The collection also includes diaries in
which people
describe attending the theatre, such as the diary of
Charles
H. Wiggin, a Boston teenager, from 1859 to 1860.
Wiggin attended
many theatrical events. There are numerous entries
regarding
these events, and several advertisements and programs
bound
into the volume.
Newspapers and Periodicals
Early American newspaper
collection is a rich resource for researching
theatre.
They contain such useful information as
advertisements, reviews
of shows, cast lists, and occasionally may be the only
confirmation
that shows were performed at particular times and
places.
Small, regional newspapers often provide the only
evidence
that live entertainment was available outside of major
metropolitan
areas. The collection also includes periodicals
published about theatre. These included periodicals of
criticism
and review, amateur dramatics, and trade periodicals
aimed
at those in the profession, such as The Prompter
and
Figaro. The Prompter was published in
New York
by Cornelius Mathews, and also served as a promotional
tool
for dramatic works by Mathews. Figaro is a
periodical
aimed at those in the profession or those that had
interest
in it. It includes news about shows or theatres,
gossip, tidbits
about particular acts, and scandal.
Children's Literature
Plays written specifically for children can be found
in Children's
Literature Collection. Among the earliest
children's plays
held at the Society is An Accurate Description of
the Grand
Allegorical Pantomimic Spectacle, of Cinderella
(1806),
published in conjunction with the actual production at
Philadelphia's
New Theatre. It was probably issued as a promotional
tool.
Early nineteenth-century didactic authors like Maria
Edgeworth
wrote dramatic plays to educate and inform in a lively
way;
the Society has various children's plays by Miss
Edgeworth,
including Eton Montem (ca. 1824), set at the
famous
English boys' school. With the development of the
common school
system in the United States, the school became a
legitimate
medium for children's theatrical performances. A
catalog for
New York textbook publisher Sheldon, Blakeman &
Co. from
1856 has an advertisement for The Exhibition
Speaker and
Gymnastic Book that features children acting in a
school
play complete with stage, curtains, and props. The
family
parlor also became a popular spot for children's
plays, as
so lovingly described by Louisa May Alcott in
Little Women.
The Society has the series Little Plays for Little
Players
(1884) written by George Mooney expressly for parlor
productions,
and he gives detailed descriptions for costumes and
scenery.
The collection includes children's fiction about child
actors;
one example is Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore
(1879),
Louisa May Alcott's story about a boy who supports his
impoverished
family by acting in a children's production of
H.M.S. Pinafore.
This charming story features illustrations depicting
characters
from the operetta.
Graphic Arts
The graphic
arts collection has an interesting variety of
theatre-related
materials to choose from, including photographs of actors and
performers, lithographs,
portraits
prints, Cartes-de-Visite, Sheet music, and broadsides.
When
searching for portraits of actors such as Joseph
Jefferson,
who became famous for his role in the play Rip Van
Winkle,
the Cartes-de-Visite,
cabinet sized photographs, and American
portrait prints are useful.
There is an inventory
available for the cabinet-sized photographs of actors and performers.
The lithograph
collection contains over 90 portraits of actors,
and the
sheet
music collection has some pictorial covers that
include
approximately 50 portraits of actors, such as one of
Edwin
Forest on the cover of the Drama March. The
lithographs
also have some wonderful interior and exterior views
of theatres.
The broadsides
collection has the largest group of
theatre-related material.
There are several thousand playbills, with about 1000
of them
accessible through the online catalog, including
National
Theatre, from 1849.
James David Moran, Director of Outreach here at the
Society,
has written a play on the life of Isaiah Thomas, who
founded
the Society in 1812. The play was published in The
Proceedings,
and an abbreviated introduction to it can be read here.
The Society also offers a program called Isaiah
Thomas- Patriot Printer, a dramatic
presentation appropriate
for grades 5-12.
-Laura Wasowicz, Curator of Children's Literature
-Vince Golden, Curator of Newspapers
-Thomas Knoles, Curator of Manuscripts
-Joanne Chaison, Research Librarian
-Terri Tremblay, Assistant
Curator of
Graphic Arts
|
Frontispeice from The Contrast,
by Royall
Tyler 
Performing Menken,
2003,
by Renée M. Sentilles
Page from manuscript "Rustic Love:
A Dialogue
in two acts"
Advertisement bound in Charles H.
Wiggin's
diary
The Prompter, a trade periodical
for
dramatists
Figaro, a trade periodical for
dramatists
Detail from advertisement for The Exhibition
Speaker and
Gymnastic Book
The Sleeping Beauty, from
Little
Plays for Little Players, 1884
Character from H.M.S.
Pinafore
Cartes-de-Visite of Joseph
Jefferson
Portrait of Edwin Forest from sheet
music cover
The Drama March
Detail of National Theatre, an
1849
broadside
|
