The collection documents WPA Theatre's theatrical productions, fundraising, and management, but contains little concerning its founding and organization, planning of productions and seasons, or its relationship with other New York theaters. The records are arranged in two series: General Records and Production Files.
Included with GENERAL RECORDS are budgets, files of correspondence and records concerning clearances and permissions required from Actors' Equity Association, general and fundraising correspondence, solicitations to foundations, a mailing list, newsletters, lists of plays presented, ticket sales, and reviews of productions and of the Theatre in general. Also included are photographs from rehearsals and of WPA staff members, and unidentified photographs. Separate files concern the Ballet Players of WPA and the Theatre Kalambur of Poland, which performed at WPA for several years. For both groups there are correspondence, playbills, and flyers concerning performances, planning and arrangements, and reviews. Similar materials are present for the annual New Plays Festivals, together with photographs, programs, and promotional materials. There is also a small file of flyers, near-print materials, and a newsletter of the Off-Off Broadway Alliance of Theaters.
The PRODUCTION FILES illustrate plays considered and presented by WPA Theatre from 1968 to 1976. Productions are arranged alphabetically by title, and include both new plays and classics. Most of the files contain similar material, including scripts, many of which are annotated, flyers advertising the production, photographs, playbills, press releases, programs, and copies of reviews from New York newspapers and journals. There are few letters, production notes, or other materials. Many of the programs, flyers, and press releases are in near-print format, indicating the budget constraints under which WPA operated. Two tape recordings contain pre-performance and performance music and some dialogue from the play Rite(s) On! Rite of Spring by Stanley Nelson.
