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Children's Theatre of Evanston Records 1925-1976

MSS-228

Historical Note

The Children's Theatre of Evanston, a youth theatre and theatre school, was created in the fall of 1925 when Winifred Ward, theatre professor at Northwestern University, saw a need for a children's theatre connected to both the university and the Evanston school districts. Winifred Ward, Dean Ralph Dennis of the Speech School at Northwestern and Alexander Dean, head of the University Theatre, were the principal founders of the theatre. Winifred Ward, the Director of the theatre from 1925-1950, directed the first show, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, on November 6, 1925.

Under Ward's tutelage the Theatre produced four plays each season designed for children in the third through the eighth grade. University students acted in these shows with younger children playing age-appropriate roles. The child roles were double cast. Ward directed almost all of the plays until the late 1930s with student assistants. Students, mostly those enrolled in graduate school, also directed, designed and stage managed the shows. These plays were performed at the junior high schools in Evanston.

The classes that Winifred Ward taught at Northwestern University in creative dramatics and children's theatre fed into and supported the activities of the Theatre and the creative dramatics programs in the Evanston intermediate and elementary schools. During the summer months, The Children's Theatre of Evanston would often produce a play as the cumulative project of summer workshops. This idea continued throughout the years, especially in the 1970s when these summer productions were part of the Theatre 65 School, producing two plays each summer, created by the Shakespeare in the Parks and Plays on Wheels programs. These shows toured throughout Evanston schools and parks throughout the summer.

Many leaders of children's theatre received their education at Northwestern and worked with the Children's Theatre of Evanston. Some of these students who went on to teach at other universities and work at other children's theatres include: Geraldine Brain Siks, Ann Flagg and Xan Johnson. Other students who continued working with The Children's Theatre of Evanston and the Evanston school districts after graduation include: Anne Thurman and Jane Dinsmoor Triplett.

The Children's Theatre of Evanston premiered many plays during their fifty two years. They worked closely with Charlotte B. Chorpenning, playwright at the Goodman Theatre, commissioning and premiering many of her plays. Other plays were selected by the help of the audience. At the end of each season, Winifred Ward would ask the children in the audience what plays they would like to see in the next year. Ward also used a Children's Board, made up of child representatives from each school, to suggest plays, report reactions to the plays and help advertise upcoming shows. For a list of the plays produced by season, see Series 1, Organizational History.

The Children's Theatre of Evanston rarely left the Chicago area to tour. However, in their 18th Season, they performed The Emperor's New Clothes in Washington D.C., sponsored by The Children's Museum of Washington. They performed Grandmother Slyboots in 1944, at the first national Children's Theatre Conference, that was held in Evanston. When the Children's Theatre Conference again came to Evanston in 1956, they performed The Boy Knight of Reims. In the 1970s many shows were toured locally to each of the public schools so that every child in Evanston could experience live theatre.

In 1950 Winfred Ward retired and Rita Criste became Director until 1967. In 1950 a second series of shows were introduced for children age four through second grade. These shows used seventh and eighth grade students as actors and technicians. Each of these shows were double cast, typically, with one cast from each school. Under Criste's leadership three shows were produced each year for the older children and three shows for the younger children.

In 1967 Rita Criste retired and Jane Dinsmoor Triplett became the Director. That year the Theatre changed its name to Theatre 65. When the company first began, there were two separate school districts in Evanston which later became the Evanston Community Consolidated School District Number 65. The change in name to Theatre 65 reflected the investment and association between the school district and the company; the plays that Theatre 65 produced were part of the schools' curriculum. In 1971 The Evanston District 65 withdrew funding for the Theatre. They continued to operate with the support of private donations and grants. In 1975 Theatre 65 became a part of Kendall College and the Communication Arts Center where the staff offered adult classes in various areas of theatre. Theatre 65 closed in 1976.

Scope and Content Note

The Children's Theatre of Evanston Records, 1925-1976, are comprised of: histories, correspondence, meeting minutes, staff handbooks, financial statements and reports, budgets, ledgers, newspaper articles, production notebooks, promptbooks, study guides, playscripts, reel to reel and cassette audiotapes, production and publicity photographs, scrapbooks, course curricula, teaching materials, season flyers, play programs, and press releases. The collection documents the Children's Theatre of Evanston's youth theatre productions and its involvement with Evanston's intermediate and elementary schools creative dramatics programs. The collection consists of thirteen series: Organizational History (Box 1), Administrative (Box 2), Financial (Box 3-4), Personnel (Box 5), Productions (Box 6-9), Education Programs (Box 10-11), Conferences (Box 12), Playscript Library (Box 13-20), Sound Recordings (Box 21-23), Photographs (Box 24-32), Scrapbooks (Box 33-43), Ephemera (Box 44-46), and Miscellaneous-Restricted (Box 47-53).

Series I: Organizational History (1925-1976) provides an historical overview of the company noting anniversaries, important events, changes in directors, the beginning of plays for school children kindergarten through second grade, and the name change to Theatre 65. It contains newspaper articles, promotional material, a published thesis, and histories written by the company staff and researchers. Of note is a list of the plays produced by season. The series is arranged chronologically.

Series II: Administrative (1950-1976) contains materials documenting the daily operations of the company and the staff's responsibilities, as well as script permissions to perform plays. It consists mostly of correspondence, with some meeting minutes, forms, procedures and handbooks. There is no original order arrangement.

Series III: Financial (1925-1976) documents the general financial operations of the company; tax and insurance records; box office reports; fundraising efforts and a change in the funding base, 1971-1976. It contains budgets, reports, statements, ledgers, receipts, correspondence, policies, tax forms, press releases, newspaper articles and grant proposals. See the production series for individual show budgets and ticket sale reports. The series bulk dates are 1953-1976 and it is arranged chronologically.

Series IV: Personnel (1940-1976) provides company staff biographical and employment information, as well as materials from or about their projects, activities, honors and awards. It contains correspondence, newspaper articles, employee information forms and salary records. The series is arranged alphabetically by last name and has bulk dates of 1962-1975.

Series V: Production (1929-1976) documents the company's productions. It consists of programs, cast lists, rehearsal schedules, playscripts, promptbooks, promotional flyers and brochures, tickets, production budgets and correspondence. The series is mostly arranged chronologically by play, with the last several files having no arrangement. Files labeled with title of play, author, director, and performance dates contain production materials. Files that contain other materials, such as study guides, promptbooks, and playscripts, are duly noted. Before each season, there is a file containing material documenting the season.

Series VI: Educational Programs (1950-1976) consists of materials regarding the Evanston Community Consolidated School District Number 65 and the Kendall Communication Arts Center. The series contains staff lists, news articles, correspondence and subject-related teaching files, documenting the company's creative drama programs in District 65, and program objectives, class lists, teaching materials, statistical reports and correspondence concerning the Kendall Communication Arts Center. The Arts Center records emphasis is on the grant sponsored communications practicum, which trained students for future employment. In addition, there are materials on the Illinois Sesquicentennial Celebration, 1968, consisting mostly of historical booklets and publications. There is no original order arrangement.

Series VII: Conferences (1944-1972) contains newspaper articles, programs, flyers, and correspondence documenting the involvement of the company with various national and local conferences held in Evanston and other U.S. cities. The arrangement is chronological.

Series VIII: Playscripts Library contains typescripts, manuscripts, and published playscripts from the Children's Theatre of Evanston's library. In addition, there is a plays-in-file list and an inventory list at the beginning of the series. Some of the scripts are heavily annotated; others are noted as never produced and are housed separately. There are some scripts preceding the collection's date range. The series is arranged alphabetically by title. Scripts serving as promptbooks were moved to the production series and the large published books from the company's library have been catalogued with the Child Drama Collection monographs.

Series IX: Sound Recordings contains numerous reel to reel audio tapes and 12 audiocassettes consisting of recordings of plays, sound effects, music and interviews. Also present is an alphabetically arranged index card recordings catalog. Due to the lack of equipment to play the reel to reel audio tapes and because of poor labeling, many of the recordings are unidentifiable and without dates. There is no original order arrangement.

Series X: Photographs (1926-1975) contains slides, negatives and photographs, several of which are framed or matted production publicity photographs. The images, mostly black and white, document the productions and other activities of The Children's Theatre of Evanston. A small portion of the series is processed with some photographs arranged chronologically by show and some slides placed in subject arranged binders. The reminder of the series has no original order arrangement.

Series XI: Scrapbooks (1925-1975) consists of 14 scrapbooks containing newspaper articles, reviews, photographs, tickets, flyers, season brochures, programs, posters, black and white publicity and production photographs, set and costume renderings and correspondence. The series documents the Children's Theatre of Evanston's productions, anniversaries, personnel, awards, Children's Board and national children's theatre conferences held at Northwestern University. The first five scrapbooks were created by Winifred Ward. The arrangement is mostly chronological and there is a descriptive box list for this series at the end of this finding aid.

Series XII: Ephemera (1964-1976) contains awards received by The Children's Theatre of Evanston and its staff. It consists of plaques, certificates and a silver bowl.

Series XIII: Miscellaneous-Restricted (1927-1976) consists of records which due to preservation concerns have been restricted. It contains public relations materials, some photography and camera ready art, an inventory for Theatre 65, funding and administrative correspondence, funding and financial proposals, administrative general files, officer and staff lists, reports, photo permissions, and index cards listing cast members, alumni, business, publicity and volunteer contact information.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Access to the Miscellaneous-Restricted series of this collection has been restricted by Archives and Special Collections because the original materials require preservation. Contact the Curator of the Child Drama Collection for information on access to the restricted portion of this collection.

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

Arizona State University does not own the copyright to this collection. We recognize that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.

Related Material

Child Drama Collection, Rita Criste Collection, MS CD CDP-12, for Children's Theatre of Evanston play typescripts, newspaper reviews and articles, posters and promptbooks created by Rita Criste during her years as Artistic Director for this company.

Access Terms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Children's Theatre of Evanston Records, MSS-228, Arizona State University Library.

Provenance

The Children's Theatre of Evanston Records were primarily received from Jane Dinsmoor Triplett and Edgar Van de Voort with a small production photograph acquisition from Mrs. Nickerson, wife of the official Children's Theatre of Evanston's photographer, in 1994 as recorded in accession number 2004-3589. There was also a small accretion from Lou Furman in 2004 recorded in accession number 2004-3688.

Processing Note

This collection was processed as part of a NHPRC Archives-Basic Projects-Basic Processing grant, which limits processing to the series [and subseries when needed] level and does not allow the creation of file or folder listings. The collection was processed by Elizabeth Moss and Anna Uremovich, NHPRC Project Archivist, Child Drama Collection, July 2009.