Purchase, 2000 (R14620)
Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the
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Liz Murray, 2001
This comprehensive collection of works and papers of British playwright Arnold Wesker comprises a lifetime of creative endeavor, and documents his involvement in many of the 20th century's important political, social and artistic movements. As such, the collection contains not only the prolific output of a single individual over the last 40 years, but also is framed within the larger historical context of international events. Wesker, considered one of the key figures in 20th century drama, is the author of 50 plays, mainly for the stage but also for radio, television, and screen, as well as collections of short stories, non-fiction, and an autobiography.
The collection is arranged in six series: Series I. Works and Related Material; Series II. Career Related; Series III. Center 42 and Roundhouse; Series IV. Correspondence, 1925-1999; Series V. Personal; and Series VI. Works of Others. In the process of boxing his papers for shipment to the Ransom Center, Wesker compiled a list of the contents, which is available for consultation. It provides a more detailed description of the collection, complete with anecdotes and footnotes, and forms the basis for folder descriptions throughout. However, the materials are not listed in the same order they appear in this finding aid. Box names have been cross-referenced on the folders.
Series I. Works and Related Material (113 boxes). This series contains produced and unproduced works in Subseries A. Works by Title, 1949-1998, including plays for stage, radio, television and screen, opera, ballet, musicals, short stories, and non-fiction. Generally, the works follow the creative process from preliminary notes and drafts through to production and performance. There are a number of roneoed (mimeographed) drafts of the plays. Correspondence is included with the works, but related correspondence may also be found in Series IV. The comprehensive nature of this collection is remarkable, both in terms of content and description. Wesker provides the initial rough handwritten drafts for the majority of his works, as well as subsequent typed drafts, all precisely dated. For example, playscript drafts fold one into the next, many altered in rehearsal, so that the researcher has a complete record of the progression of the work over time.
The plays, many directed by Wesker, include
Wesker's non-fiction includes his autobiography
Because of the large number of posters received with the collection for Wesker's plays, readings, lectures, and Centre 42/Roundhouse, a database was generated listing the title, place of production/presentation, and dates of performance. This listing is found at the end of the inventory as an addendum. The posters include a billboard size serigraph of Che Guevara, bearing the now-classic phrase
Series II. Career Related (18 boxes) reflects Wesker's lifelong involvement in a wide range of arts-related events, organizations, and teaching at the University level, as well as writings including early manuscripts, poetry, and his prolific "journalism." This Series is divided into Subseries A. Events, Subseries B. Organizations, Subseries C. University Teaching, and Subseries D. Early Writings and Journalism.
Subseries A. Events includes addresses, lectures, readings, and speeches; conferences, seminars, and workshops; programs and invitations; and tours and festivals for a forty year period, 1960-2000. Wesker lectured in both academic and professional settings worldwide, at such events as the Oxford University Drama Festival in 1960, the annual conference of writers in Lahti, Finland, in 1971, P.E.N.'s Writer's Day in 1979, and the 1987 "Wesker on Wesker" conference in Macerata, Italy, as well as numerous readings and presentations at banquets and award ceremonies.
Notable conferences, seminars, and workshops include the 1964 and 1968 Cultural Congress of Havana, 1980 Playwrights' Workshop in Montreal, 1982 Rockefeller Foundation conference in Bellagio, Italy, 1992 Cambridge Seminar in Portugal, the 1997 International Congress of the Greek Playwrights' Society, and the 1999 Edward Albee Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska, at which Albee presented Wesker with the "Last Frontier Lifetime Achievement Award For Distinguished Service in the Theatre." Additional programs and invitations to Wesker-related events are also found in this subseries. Literary tours and festivals include "Wesker '68" in Japan, 1970 Arts Council Writers' Tour, cultural tours in China and Finland, and the Intercity Festival in Florence in 1996.
Some of Wesker's organizational affiliations in Subseries B. Organizations include the Committee of 100 formed in opposition to nuclear weapons in the late 1950s, the Writers' Guild, The George Orwell Trust, and the British Israel Arts Foundation. Additional involvement in numerous organizations, foundations, and social causes is reflected in the correspondence in Series IV. While sought after by colleges and universities worldwide for readings and participation in literary events of all kinds, Wesker also taught short courses at the University of Colorado at Boulder (1974) and Denison University in Ohio (1995). Materials documenting this classroom experience are found in Subseries C. University Teaching.
Wesker is the author of numerous letters to the editor, reviews, articles, and essays found in Subseries D. Early Writings and Journalism. He is frequently published in the editorial pages of newspapers such as
Series III. Center 42 and Roundhouse (30 boxes): On April 28, 1960, an article in the
Series IV. Correspondence, 1925-1999 (94 boxes): Wesker's extensive personal and professional correspondence is found in this series, in addition to the correspondence in the Works and Center 42/Roundhouse Series. Friends, associates, actors, agents (especially Theatrework), colleagues, organizations, and publishers form the bulk of the correspondents from the 1960s-1990s, as well as subject-related correspondence such as the '67 War and journalism. Also present are family letters, beginning in 1925 with Leah Wesker's letters to her brother Perly Perlmutter. A large number of greeting cards, invitations, and requests of all kinds are included.
Series V. Personal (23 boxes) contains articles, essays, interviews, reviews, and theses about Wesker; auction catalogs listing his works, awards, biographical information, appointment diaries, family papers, financial papers (especially accounts and royalty payments), photographs from the 1950s-1990s, and trips made to Cuba, Israel, and Italy.
Series VI. Works of Others (2 boxes): The collection contains Nedzad Dozo's
Wesker's collection includes numerous books, many signed/inscribed first editions, and
The collection is in good physical condition, except for some musty files in the Centre 42 material that also incurred rust damage from staples and paper clips. Diaries from 1986-1999, holograph notebooks recording dreams, and personal correspondence were restricted until Wesker's death, and are now open for research.
[album, Japanese production of
[set designs by Jackie Pilford removed to oversize box 281]
[oversize material removed to box 282]
[poems published in