Prepared by Cara Gilgenbach, April 2002; updated July 2006
Blumenthal, Eileen. Joseph Chaikin: Exploring the Boundaries of Theater. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984.
Blumenthal, Eileen. The Open Theater: A dissertation presented to the faculty of the graduate school of Yale University in candidacy for the degree of doctor of philosophy. New Haven: [Yale University], 1977. [608 pages] [Available for purchase through UMI/Proquest Digital Dissertations]
Blumenthal, Eileen. "The Open Theater: The Actor as Storyteller." Performing Arts Quarterly 1 (1976): 7-10. [also includes a chronology of the Open Theater]
Brustein, Robert Sanford. The Culture Watch: Essays on Theatre and Society, 1969-1974. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975. [Contains: "Back to the Wilderness: The Open Theater"]
Chaikin, Joseph. "Continuing Work." Theatre Papers Fourth series, no. 1 (1981-82)
Chaikin, Joseph. "Notes on Character ... and the Setup." Performance [New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater, New York City) 1.1 (December 1971): 76-81.
Chaikin, Joseph. The Presence of the Actor. New York, NY: Theatre Communications Group, 1991 [reprint; originally published: New York: Atheneum, 1972]
Croyden, Margaret. Lunatics, Lovers and Poets: The Contemporary Experimental Theatre. New York: McGraw-Hill, [1974].
Gildzen, Alex and Dimitris Karageorgiou. Joseph Chaikin: A Bio-Bibliography. New York: Greenwood Press, 1992.
Feldman, Peter. The Sound and Movement Exercise as Developed by the Open Theatre. Devon, England: Dartington College of Arts, 1977. [Peter Feldman interviewed by Peter Hulton. Issued as Theatre Papers, First Series, Number 1 by the Department of Theatre, Dartington College of Arts]
Hendrix, Erlene Laney. The Presence of the Actor as a Kinetic Melody: A Study of Joseph Chaikin's Open Theatre Through the Philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. [dissertation] [Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri-Columbia], 1977. [Available for purchase through UMI/Proquest Digital Dissertations]
Herman, Richard Jerome. Joseph Chaikin: Thematic Investigations of Life and Death. [dissertation] [Texas Tech University]: 1986. [Available for purchase through UMI/Proquest Digital Dissertations]
Joseph Chaikin & Sam Shepard: Letters and Texts, 1972-1984. Edited, and with a preface by Barry V. Daniels. New York, NY: New American Library, 1989.
Mohan, Roberta Newcomer. The Open Theater Production of "The Serpent: A Ceremony": An Examination of Aesthetic Purpose and Creative Process. [masters thesis] Kent, Ohio: Kent State University, 1973.
Pasolli, Robert. A Book on the Open Theatre. [New York]: Discus Books, [1972].
Wilson, Edwin. The Theater Experience. 3rd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1985.
Joseph Chaikin, Papers I: 1921-1993 (http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/theater/chaikin.html)
Joseph Chaikin first donated his papers to the Department of Special Collections and Archives of Kent State University in 1972. He continued to add material to his collection periodically until his death in 2003. This group of papers, the bulk of which dates from the 1970's-early 1990's, includes correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, articles, and other miscellaneous papers. Items in this portion of Joseph Chaikin's papers are inventoried at the folder level.
Joseph Chaikin, Papers II: 1947-1990 (http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/theater/chaikin0.html)
This part of the collection represents the early materials Joseph Chaikin donated to the Department of Special Collections and Archives of Kent State University in 1972. Among these early materials are his correspondence with Sam Shepard, Judith Malina, Julian Beck, Samuel Beckett, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Vanessa Redgrave and Eric Bentley, manuscripts of plays, and his business files for the Other Theater. This portion of the papers is inventoried at the item level.
Open Theater, Papers: 1963-1984 (http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/theater/optheatr.html)
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.
Susan Yankowitz, Papers: 1960-2004 (http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/theater/yankowitz.html)
Susan Yankowitz, a playwright, is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the Yale School of Drama. During the 1970s, she began her professional career as a member of Joseph Chaikin's Open Theater group, where she authored such notable plays as Terminal and Utterances. The Susan Yankowitz collection was donated to Special Collections and Archives in September, 1999. Papers donated in years previous to 1999 were made a part of the Open Theater collection. At present, the collection consists of two series of papers, one related to the play Night Sky, and the other related to the revival of the play Terminal. Papers include publicity, correspondence, notes, manuscripts, and other papers.
Peter Feldman Papers: 1966-2000 (http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/theater/feldman.html)
Feldman's career extends from the 1960s to the present. In 1963, he, along with Joseph Chaiken, founded New York's famous Open Theatre, one of the world's leading avante-garde theatre ensembles. He co-directed this group until 1970.This collection consists of Feldman's publications, separated into journals, texts, and presentations and workshops. The bulk of the collection are journal articles (12 items), followed by presentations and workshops (4 items). The text collection does not contain books that Feldman personally wrote, but rather an interview and a collection of articles.
Jean-Claude van Itallie, Papers
Playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie's manuscripts and other papers are housed in the Department of Special Collections and Archives. Currently, the papers are in process, and no online inventory is available at this time. Contact the Department for further details.