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Brian Kral Papers 1976-2002

MSS-235

Biographical Note

Brian Kral, playwright, director and teacher, received his bachelor's degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and his M.F.A. in Child Drama from Arizona State University in 1984. His Applied Project was titled, Duets and False Solos: Three Plays for Young People and Four Chronicles of Writing, and included his plays Beauty and the Beast: The Legacy of the Rose, Apologies, and East of the Sun and West of the Moon.

Kral has been affiliated with the Rainbow Company Youth Theatre (formerly known as Rainbow Company Children's Theatre until 2001), a cultural division of the City of Las Vegas, since its inception in 1977, as a playwright, director, artist in residence, teacher and Artistic Director (1984-1992). His original play titled Special Class about students in a special education classroom was cast with disabled young actors and premiered at Rainbow Company in 1978. This production was featured on the television show Good Morning America, at the American Theatre Association's 1980 national convention in San Diego, at the 1979 Very Special Arts Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on the national Easter Seals 1979 Christmas telethon and on Kid's World, a children's television news program.

His plays are published by Anchorage Press, in Dramatics Magazine and in Theatre Communication Group's 1988 Plays for Young Audiences II. Paper Lanterns, Paper Cranes received development at the 1991 Bonderman Playwriting for Youth National Competition and Symposium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Several of his plays were developed at Arizona's Stageworks (formerly known as Mesa Youtheatre). Other plays for young audiences include: The Ransom of Red Chief; Promise in the Wind (Espiritu en el Viento), a bilingual play co-authored with Stageworks Artistic Director Jennifer Akridge; One to Grow On; and Golden Horse, Silver Night. He has written two adult plays, The Abyss and Flax.

Kral's awards include: the Winifred Ward Scholarship, 1982; the AATE (American Alliance for Theatre & Education) Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award for a significant long-term body of plays for young audiences, 1989; and the AATE Distinguished Play Award, Category A: Plays primarily for middle school and secondary age audiences, for Paper Lanterns, Paper Cranes, published by Anchorage Press, 2003.

In Kral's early career, he sometimes used the name Brian Strom.

Scope and Content Note

The Brian Kral Papers, 1976-2002, contain correspondence, a biographical sketch, letters of recommendation, thank you notes, newspaper articles and reviews, periodicals, playwriting contest forms, press releases, teaching notes, student papers, handwritten notes, play typescripts with revisions, promptbooks with lighting cues, final typescripts, study guides, directing and lighting notes, research notes, resource materials, play response forms, promotional fliers, programs, costume and set renderings, photo contact sheets and some photographs. The majority of the collection consists of development and production materials for plays written by Brian Kral for young audiences, 1979-1991, with the remainder of the material documenting his professional career as a playwright, director and teacher. The papers are divided into the following series: Professional History (Boxes 1-2) and Plays (Boxes 3-6).

Series I: Professional History (1976-1995) documents Brian Kral's professional career as a playwright, director and teacher. It contains: correspondence; a biographical sketch; letters of recommendation; thank you notes; newspaper interviews, articles and reviews, periodicals, playwriting contest forms and publicity, press releases, programs, fliers, teaching notes and student papers. The majority of the series is correspondence from and to Brian Kral from publishers, playwrights, theatre companies, theatre organizations and colleagues regarding plays, events, playwriting contests and an Artist in Residency at Eastern Michigan University. The remaining materials provide information on his involvement with: playwriting contests; directing at Rainbow Company and at Arizona's Stageworks (formerly Mesa Youtheatre); Silverstate Independent Films; a Samuel Beckett festival in Nevada; and teaching creative drama.

Series II: Plays (1979-2002) documents the development and production of Kral's plays for young audiences and an adult play, The Abyss. It consists mostly of play typescripts with revisions, promptbooks with lighting cues, final typescripts, study guides, blocking and lighting notes, research notes, resource materials, handwritten notes, play response forms, correspondence, newspaper articles and reviews, promotional fliers, programs, design renderings, photo contact sheets and some photographs. The arrangement is alphabetical by play.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

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.

Access Terms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Brian Kral Papers, MSS-235, Arizona State University Library.

Provenance

The Brian Kral Papers were received from Brian Kral in 2003 as recorded in accession number 2003-02669; ongoing.

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 level when needed and does not allow the creation of file or folder listings. The collection was processed by Anna Uremovich, NHPRC Project Archivist, Child Drama Collection, June 2009.