Collection Guide
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Inventory of the Circle in the Square Photographs,
MC037
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Creator:
Circle in the Square (Theater)
Title: Circle in the Square Photographs
Date: 1952
Extent:
0.2 linear feet
Abstract: The Circle in the Square Theatre was founded in 1951 in New York City by Paul Libin,
Theodore Mann, and Jose Quintero. The collection contains fifty-four photographs depicting the 1952 Circle
in the Square production of Tennessee Williams'
Summer and Smoke, directed by Jose Quintero.
Physical location: Researchers should contact Special Collections to request collections, as
many are stored offsite.
Repository:
University of California, Davis. General Library. Department of Special
Collections.
Davis, California 95616-5292
Collection number: MC037
Language of Material: Collection materials in English.
The Circle in the Square Theatre was founded in 1951 in New York City by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann, and Jose
Quintero. It opened on February 2, 1951 with a revival of Richardson and Berney's
Dark of the
Moon.
Productions included revivals of Tennessee Williams'
Summer and Smoke in 1952,
Truman Capote's
The Grass Harp in 1953, and Arthur Hayes's
The Girl on the Via
Flaminia
in 1954.
In 1960 the demolition of the building forced the company to move to the former New Stages Theatre, at 159
Bleecker Street, where they opened on January 8 with
Our Town. In 1972, the Circle in the
Square moved to 1633 Broadway. The theatre closed as a producing entity in 1998, however, it continues to
host productions.
Sources:
Hartnoll, Phyllis.
The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. New York: Oxford University Press,
1983.
"History of Circle in the Square: The Theatre,"
Circle in the Square Theatre School web site.
Accessed August 25, 2008.
The collection contains fifty four 8x10 black and white photographs of the 1952 Circle in the Square
production of Tennessee Williams'
Summer and Smoke, directed by Jose Quintero. For this
production, Geraldine Page played Alma and Lee Richardson played John. Forty three photographs are of scenes
and characters in the production and eleven photographs are of scenes in the dressing room, in front of the
house before the opening, and during the opening night party. Also included are seven 8x10 contact sheets of
those photographs. Each photograph has the handstamp of the photographer on the reverse: Hugh Bell or
Barbara Kerr and Justin Kerr.
The collection is arranged into two series: Playbill and Photographs.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online
public access catalog.
Circle in the Square (Theater)
Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983. Summer and smoke
Stage photography
Theater--New York (State)--New York
Collection is open for research.
Acquired from R. Stoddard in 1980.
Sara Gunasekara processed these papers and created and encoded this finding aid.
[Identification of item], Circle in the Square Photographs, MC037, Department of Special Collections, General
Library, University of California, Davis.
Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17, of the U.S. Code. All requests for permission to
publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections, General Library,
University of California, Davis as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.