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Theater and the Performing Arts

Within the area of theater and the performing arts, Special Collections’ holdings include the personal and professional papers of Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson, which are supplemented by a series of photographs negatives, and color slides of Lanford Wilson in his house and garden, taken in the 1980s and 1990s.  The collection also contains hundreds of published plays, librettos, and technical manuals from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as hundreds of 20th-century theater programs for productions of plays in New York, London, Washington D.C., and St. Louis dated from 1945 to the present.

How to Use the Collection

With a few exceptions, the collections can be accessed and requested through the library catalog. Finding aids for individual collections are linked on this website. Materials are available for use in the Special Collections Reading Room (room 401) during regular hours. Materials do not circulate. 

MU Library Catalog

Finding Aids for Theater and the Performing Arts

Diane Gorodnitzki Photographs of Lanford Wilson.

Scope and Contents Photographs, negatives, and color slides of Lanford Wilson in his house and garden, taken in the 1980s and 1990s…

Lanford Wilson Collection.

Biographical Sketch Lanford Wilson (1937-2011) was born in Lebanon, Missouri to Ralph and Violetta Tate Wilson. In 1942 his parents divorced, and he…

Theater Program Collection.

Orange theater program with drawing of Black woman in chair and holding a cigarette in left hand with two large eyes underneath

Scope and Contents The majority of the programs are for performances dated from 1945 to the present in New York, London, Washington D.C., and St.…

Selected Items

The Rimers of Eldritch [program].

Theatre program cover on yellowed paper for The Rimers of Eldritch by Lanford Wilson, with a small logo and the words “Equity Library Theatre” printed along the bottom.<br />

Program for the production of The Rimers of Eldritch directed by Cyprienne Gabel at the Equity Library Theatre, April 1-11, 1976.

From Off-Off-Broadway, Plays to Be Puzzled By.

Newspaper clipping with headline ‘From Off-Off-Broadway, Plays to Be Puzzled By,’ including a photo of Lanford Wilson. <br />

Clipping of a newspaper article.

Lanford Wilson's The Rimers of Eldritch [program].

A theatre program or poster for Lanford Wilson’s The Rimers of Eldritch printed in navy blue, with the silhouette of five people.<br />

Program for the tenth anniversary production of Rimers of Eldritch at Gaslight Theatre, Denver, Colorado, opening March 21, 1974.

Lebanon Native Writing Plays.

Clipping of play review: Black text over white paper

Clipping of a review.

USC Cast Creates Near-Flawless Play.

Clipping of play review: Black text over white paper glued over larger white paper. Marginal note reads "U of South Carolina Colombia S.C. Nov. 18, 1968."

Review of a production of The Rimers of Eldritch at the University of South Carolina.

'Rimers' Penetrating Study of Small Town America.

A sepia-toned newspaper clipping titled ‘Rimers: Peculiarly Stark — Of Small Town America’, laid out in column format.<br />

Review of The Rimers of Eldritch at UC Irvine Repertory.

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