archives.nypl.org -- Harold Clurman papers (original) (raw)

The Harold Clurman papers contain notebooks and journals, director's annotated scripts, manuscript drafts and annotated typescripts of Clurman's books, and photograph scrapbooks documenting his career as a director, writer and critic. The materials span from 1935 through 1978 and give an interesting look at Clurman's work and thought process as a director. Notebooks contain his ideas on plot and character development, as well as casting notes and ideas for plays which he directed, while the scripts contain his director's annotations and compliment the notebooks for research and study of Clurman's techniques as a director. Drafts and typescripts of his writings show his three books, Ibsen, On Directing and All People Are Famous as they evolved. Finally, the photograph scrapbooks give a pictorial representative of specific plays including Awake and Sing, The Iceman Cometh and Long Day's Journey Into Night.

The Harold Clurman papers are arranged in four series:

• This series contains handwritten notebooks and journals containing information on plays and production ideas or trips, events and subjects.
• 1949-1969
  This series contains annotated scripts belonging to Harold Clurman for many of the productions that he directed through the years. Included are: The Bird Cage by Arthur Laurents, Birth Day by William Inge, The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill, Incident at Vichy by Arthur Miller, Judith by Jean Giraudoux, The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux, The Time of the Cuckoo by Arthur Laurents, A Touch of the Poet by Eugene O'Neill, The Trojan War Will Not Take Place(produced as Tiger at the Gates) by Jean Giraudoux, Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov and The Waltz of the Toreadors by Jean Anouilh. Many of these scripts are complemented by corresponding notebooks in the notebook series which contain notes and information on Clurman's production ideas.
• This series contains handwritten drafts, annotated typescripts and galleys for books written by Harold Clurman. Included are: All People Are Famous, Ibsen and On Directing. There are also some miscellaneous writings.
• 1935-1968
  This series consists of scrapbooks of photographs documenting some of the plays that Harold Clurman directed. There is also a scrapbook given to him by Habimah Theatre in Tel Aviv, honoring him for work he had done there in 1949. It should be noted that some of the scrapbooks have been disassembled for conservation purposes. The Habimah Theatre scrapbook cover has been preserved and separated into the Theatre Collection T-Cabinet.