Prepared by Alex Gildzen; Revised and prepared for the Web by Athena Salaba, September
1996
43 document cases, 14.2 cubic feet, 11th floor
The Open Theater, one of the world's leading avant-garde theater ensembles, was founded in 1963 as a workshop. It was directed by Joseph Chaikin, a key figure in contemporary American drama.
Chaikin, formerly an actor with the Living Theater, founded the group with Peter Feldman to experiment, establish new forms and "open the bodies and minds of actors and audience." Productions were collaborative and began with exercises and group discussion.
"America Hurrah" and "Viet Rock," two of off-Broadway's most significant dramas of the 1960s, originated in Open Theater workshops.
Together with playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie, whose papers are also at Kent, the Open Theater collaborated on "The Serpent," which won an Ohio award, has been produced around the world and was presented on National Educational Television.
The group's late works include the "Terminal," a study of death and resurrection which has been presented off-Broadway and has toured prisons throughout New York City, "The Mutations Show" and "Nightwalk."
Having performed throughout Europe, Middle East, Algeria and U.S., the Open Theater gave its final performance in California in December 1973.
One of the major areas of strength of the Kent State University Special Collections and Archives is theater. A continuous effort is made to collect Open Theater related materials.
The collection was donated to the Department of Special Collections and Archives by the Open Theater in December 1973.
Part of the collection consists of correspondences between distinguished members of the Open Theater such as Joseph Chaikin, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Peter Feldman, Marianne de Pury-Thompson, Susan Yankowitz, Rhea Gaisner and Peter Maloney. Also included is correspondence with Sam Shepard, Samuel Beckett, Arthur Miller and Joseph Papp.
The collection also includes the theater's subject files and manuscripts.
There are five boxes of newspaper and magazine clippings arranged chronologically, three boxes of programs, posters and photographs and two boxes of manuscripts materials, all of which are not listed in this inventory.
This collection is a valuable source of information for the scholars interested in the avant-garde theater movement, the Open Theater and its members.
Please consult our online Guide to Sources on Joseph Chaikin and the Open Theater for additional sources of information on the Open Theater.
Correspondence and manuscripts are arranged chronologically. The subject files are arranged alphabetically.
Box 3: Papers, 1967-1968 (no dates)
Box 6: Papers, 1972-March 1973
Box 7: Papers, April 1973-1974
Box 8: Papers, 1975-October 1983