|
Researchers are required
to complete a request form
and to show proper identification before viewing any
special collections material.
Crawford
Collection Scene Design Files
This collection of film and play scenes in the Drama
Library
is a small
section of the extensive Crawford Theater Collection ,
which is administered by the Manuscripts and Archives Department
in Sterling Memorial Library. The collection was donated to Yale by
Jack Randall Crawford in 1918. The scene design files were
transferred to the Drama Library in 1974.
These files consist of
the following:
A) Film
Scenes (one five-drawer file cabinet - filed by date)
Dates represented are 1875 to 1978. Files are mostly pictures
clipped from magazines with some actual photographs.
B) Scenes from American
Plays
(two four-drawer cabinets - filed by date)
Dates represented are 1825 to 1978. Some of the earlier scenes are
engravings. Most of the later ones are clipped from magazines with
some photographs
and some souvenir programs.
C) Scenes from English Plays
(one four-drawer cabinet - filed by date)
Dates represented are medieval to 1971 (most are 18th century
or later). Earlier scenes are engravings. Later ones are magazine
clippings with some photographs and souvenir programs.
D) Scenes from American Musical Comedies
(two drawers
- filed by date)
Dates represented are 1860 to 1980. Earlier scenes are engravings.
Later ones are magazine clippings with some photographs and
souvenir programs.
E) Scenes from English Musical Comedies
(two drawers
- filed by date)
Dates represented are 1815 to 1972. Earlier scenes are engravings.
Later ones are magazine clippings with some photographs and
souvenir programs.
F) Scene
and Costume Designers
(one
and a half drawers - filed by name of designer)
Designers represented are primarily from the first half of the twentieth
century with some earlier ones. The files contain clipped magazine
articles about the designers and
their work as well as some actual
photographs of their work.
G) Stage
Sets, Stagecraft and Décor
(one
half drawer - filed by country)
Magazine clippings on stagecraft around the world.
H) Scenes
from Shakespearean Plays (two drawers - filed by play title)
The files contain magazine clippings with some photographs and souvenir
programs. Productions represented are primarily American and English.
Contact drama.library@yale.edu
or (203) 432-1554
Rockefeller
Collection
The Rockefeller Collection
was compiled in 1930 by Ph.D. students in theatre history, with
the help of Allardyce Nicoll and funding from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Over the course of
two summer trips to Europe, photographs were taken of theatres, museum
exhibits, sets,
and anything related to theatre.
The photos were mounted and filed as the Rockefeller Collection. Some
articles and photos
from New York productions were added later, but the bulk of the collection
consists of
European theatre before 1930. The collection is very well organized
and cross-referenced;
however, due to non-acid-free mounting paper, the collection is deteriorating
and not well
preserved. There are eight four-drawer cabinets that house the collection
and another two
cabinets of the card index and cross references. The collection is divided
into the following
categories: Theatres, Scenes, Groups, Costumes, Masks, Properties, Machines,
Lighting,
Audience, Dances, Portraits, Fairs and Festivals, Commedia, Marionettes,
Circus, and Makeup.
Contact drama.library@yale.edu
or (203) 432-1554
Doolittle
Collection
The Doolittle Collection
is a collection of Japanese drama (some Chinese) that was
given to the
Drama Library as a gift. Not much is known about the origin of the collection
itself, but it is in
excellent condition and the contents have been very well catalogued. Some
major features of
the collection include:
- Prints—ranging from 10 x 14"
encased in plastic to smaller prints on cloth or rice paper. The
prints depict scenes or costumes from specific Japanese productions.
- Scrolls—painted with Japanese masks
or scenes
- Japanese fans
- Japanese manuscripts
- Some Chinese prints on rice paper
Contact drama.library@yale.edu
or (203) 432-1554
Production
Materials in the Drama Library
The Drama
Library collects various kinds of materials from productions in the
Yale School of Drama, the Yale Repertory Theatre, the Yale Cabaret and
the Yale Summer Cabaret. Scripts, production books, study guides and
other textual material are catalogued into the online catalog. Production
reviews are compiled into scrapbooks each year. Programs are also compiled
into annual books. Posters, photographs and other production ephemera
are represented in the collection, but not all productions have all
of these various types of material.
Contact drama.library@yale.edu
or (203) 432-1554
Design Collections from the Yale School of Drama Design Department
Location:
Yale School of Drama Design Department
Annex Building
205 Park Street
The Robert Edmund Jones Collection includes
a large number of painter’s elevations for the
revival of Green Pastures in the late 1940s, some photos of his
work and a few of his own
sketches (mostly black and white).
Donald Oenslager's Theatrical
Print Collection is Oenslager's
personal collection of framed
prints (etchings, lithographs) from the Italian Renaissance, some from
other periods, but
no American works.
Irene
Sharaff Collection
consists of Miss Sharaff's costume sketches, books that she used
for source material and other memorabilia related to her career as a
costume designer for
theatre and film.
The Design Department is hesitant to loan these collections for exhibits,
as not a lot of
information is known about their origins or subject matter. The department
would be willing
to discuss whether exhibits of the collections would be worthwhile.
Contact Mary Volk, administrative assisstant for the Design Department:
mary.volk@yale.edu or (203)
432-1579
Costume Collection of the Yale School
of Drama/Yale Repertory Theatre
Location:
Yale School of Drama Costume Shop
222 York Street, 2nd floor
The Drama School Costume Collection fills
four medium-sized rooms, with costumes consisting
of many styles of clothing representing different eras. Nineteenth-century
ladies’ dresses are
a particular strong point of the collection. Approximately five new
outfits are made for each
production, and older costumes are donated for credit to the Costume
Collection in New York.
The Costume Department loans costumes
to major theatres with whom they have a "reciprocal
loan agreement". They do not loan costumes for personal use; however,
special arrangements
may be made for certain exhibits. The Drama School does not loan dress
forms for exhibiting
purposes.
For information regarding costumes and the department’s loan policy,
contact Tom McAlister,
the Costume Shop manager: tom.mcalister@yale.edu
or (203) 432-1545.
|