Guide to the Rhode Island Feminist Theatre records, 1970-1991

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2017

Collection Overview

Title:	Rhode Island Feminist Theatre records
Date range:	1970-1991
Creator:	Rhode Island Feminist Theatre.
Extent:	1.25 Linear feet
Abstract:	This collection documents the history and activities of the Rhode Island Feminist Theatre of Providence, RI. The collections includes scripts, publicity, reviews, articles, promotional and touring material, posters, playbills, photographs, and administrative files.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	Ms.90.28

Scope & content

This collection documents the history and activities of the Rhode Island Feminist Theatre of Providence, RI. The collections includes scripts, publicity, reviews, articles, promotional and touring material, posters, playbills, photographs, and administrative files.

Series 1: General. This series contains histories of the RIFT written by the members, audition packets, mission statements, newspaper articles, and adertisements for auditions.

Series 2: Soliciting bookings. This series contains promotional materials such as brochures, lists of the plays they offer, and publicity photographs.

Series 3: Specific RIFT productions, tours, etc. This series contains information for each of the productions they created. The files for each play could include the script, program, reviews of the productions, evaluations and photographs.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Bertoldi, Deborah.
• Brown, Sherilyn.
• Buchwald, Janet.
• Conley, Barbara.
• Desy, Marcia.
• Leidner, Robin.
• Patrick, Ann.
• Pember, Julie.

Subject Organizations

• Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive.
• Westerly Public Library Granite Project.

Subject Topics

• Actresses--Rhode Island--Providence
• American drama--Women authors
• Experimental theater--Rhode Island
• Family violence--United States
• Feminism and theater--United States
• Feminist theater--United States
• Women in the theater--Rhode Island--Providence
• Women's rights--United States
• Women--Employment--United States

Occupations

• Women authors

Document Types

• Photographs--1976-2000--United States
• Playbills--1976-2000--United States
• Plays--1976-2000--Rhode Island
• Plays--1976-2000--United States
• Posters--1976-2000--United States

Subject Topics

• Rhode Island/Local Interest
• Race, Ethnicity and Gender
• Performing Arts

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in 3 series.

• Series 1: General
• Series 2: Soliciting bookings
• Series 3: Specific RIFT productions, tours, etc.

Biographical/Historical note

Founded in January 1973, the Rhode Island Feminist Theatre (RIFT) is one of the earliest known feminist theatres in the United States. As an organization it was committed to social progress using social and political issues as material for their scripts. Their goals were to create quality professional theatre with a feminist perspective, to increase public awareness of the experiences of women and to provide a stable workplace that was largely managed by women. It employed and paid full-time actors, a director, a collaborative writer and a stage manager. It also employed women in all areas of production.

Kate Phelps, a student at Brown University, is credited as the major force behind establishing RIFT. She took her interest in experimental theatre, which stressed ensemble acting and collective creation, to other students. Although not officially affiliated with Brown University, there was initial sponsorship with Rites and Reasons, a theatre group run by George Bass at the time. Eventually a group of five women and five men joined together to create RIFT. The founding company members were Nancy Buell, Mary K. Fox, Bill Frayer, Mark Halliday, Dan Murphy, Jessica Murray, Kate Phelps, Fred Radway, Dennis Sykes and Lucy Winner. The men were interested in exploring collaborative playwriting methods while the women were mainly interested in exploring feminist issues. Both groups were interested in exploring the topic of male and female roles in society.

RIFT produced twelve original scripts, mainly full length, and seven other scripts. The topics of these scripts were social issues relevant to the emerging women's movement. Generally, these plays were a result of collaborative, improvisational playwriting during a four month development period. By naming no single person as the playwright, this collaborative process unified the group as creators of each play. These plays toured extensively in New England and throughout the United States and were produced with simple production values. After an unsuccessful search for a full-time artistic director, the company officially disbanded in 1987.

Citation: Records of the Rhode Island Feminist Theater (Mss. Gr. 158), University of Rhode Island Library, Special Collections and Archives Unit.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Rhode Island Feminst Theatre records, Ms.90.28, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The materials in this collection were donated by: Sherilyn Brown 1990; Sarah Doyle Women's Center, Brown University, 1992; Judith Weiss, 2009.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Karen Eberhart.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2017-12-20
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Related material:

See also: Records of the Rhode Island Feminist Theater, Mss. Gr. 158, University of Rhode Island Library.

Inventory

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