Guide to the Robert Cohen Papers
MS.P.069
Finding aid prepared by Audrey Pearson and Alix Norton
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California, 92623-9557
949-824-3947
spcoll@uci.edu
© 2013
Title: Robert Cohen papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS.P.069
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
8.7 Linear feet
(20 boxes and one oversized folder)
Date (inclusive): 1966-2011
Abstract: This collection comprises papers of Robert Cohen, a professor of drama and founding faculty member at the University of California,
Irvine. Fifty-three production books, which include scripts, reviews, photographs and stage directions, document Cohen's work
as director for theater productions at UCI and the Utah and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals. The collection also includes reviews,
correspondence, and information about UCI Drama Department alumni, as well as textbooks and articles written by Cohen.
General Physical Description note:
(20 boxes and 1 oversized folder)
Creator:
Cohen, Robert, 1938 -
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Preferred Citation
Robert Cohen Papers. MS-P069. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Acquisition Information
Gifts of Robert Cohen, 2005 and 2013. Additions are expected.
Processing History
Processed by Audrey Pearson, 2007. Accession added by Alix Norton, 2013.
Biography
Robert Cohen is the founding chair of the University of California, Irvine Drama Department and a renowned professor, director,
translator, playwright, essayist, and drama critic. In 2001 he was named Claire Trevor Professor of Drama at UCI.
Cohen was born in Washington, D.C. in 1938. As an undergraduate he studied at Dartmouth College and UC Berkeley. After earning
his Doctor of Fine Arts at Yale University in 1965, he joined the faculty at UCI.
Over the course of his career, Cohen has directed over 70 stage productions at UCI. He is also the author of many books on
theatre, including
Acting One/Acting Two,
Acting Professionally,
Acting Power,
Acting in Shakespeare,
Theatre,
More Power To You,
Creative Play Direction,
Giraudoux: Three Faces of Destiny, two dramatic anthologies, and many plays, translations, scholarly articles, and reviews. He has frequently directed productions
for the Utah and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals. In 1993 he was awarded the UCI Medal, UCI's highest honor, and in 1999 he
received the Career Achievement Award from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education.
Biographical/Historical note
Chronology
| 1938 |
Born in Washington, D.C. |
| 1965 |
Received Doctor of Fine Arts from Yale School of Drama. |
| 1965 |
Appointed founding chair of UCI's Drama Department. |
| 1967 |
Founded the Student Repertory Theatre at UCI. |
| 1990 |
Stepped down as Chair of the Drama Department. |
| 1993 |
Awarded the UCI Medal. |
| 1999 |
Received the Career Achievement Award from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. |
| 2001 |
Named Claire Trevor Professor of Drama. |
| 2005 |
Re-appointed Chair of the Drama Department. |
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises papers of Robert Cohen, a drama professor at the University of California, Irvine. The collection
spans his career at UCI, beginning with the opening of the campus in 1965. Fifty-three production books, which include scripts,
reviews, photographs and stage directions, document Cohen's work as director for theater productions at UCI and the Utah and
Colorado Shakespeare Festivals. The collection also includes reviews, correspondence, information about UCI Drama Department
alumni, an unpublished manuscript titled
Edwin Booth in Performance, and various textbooks and articles written by Cohen.
Collection Arrangement
This collection is arranged into 3 series:
- Series 1. Production books, 1966-2007
- Series 2. Subject files, 1966-2010
- Series 3. Textbooks and journals, 1970-2011
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Cohen, Robert, 1938- -- Archives.
University of California, Irvine -- Archives.
University of California, Irvine -- Faculty -- Archives.
University of California, Irvine. Dept. of Drama -- Archives.
University of California, Irvine. Student's Repertory Theatre -- Archives.
College theater -- California -- Irvine -- History -- Sources
Costume design drawings -- 20th century.
Drama -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- 20th century
Photographic prints -- 20th century.
Scripts (documents) -- 20th century.
Theater programs -- 20th century.
Production books Series 1.
1966-2007
Physical Description:
5.6 Linear feet
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series contains production books, including both hardbound and unbound, for plays directed by Cohen. Most of the plays
were staged at UCI, but a few were at other institutions and Shakespearean festivals, as indicated in the inventory. Each
book includes some or all of the following: programs, production and publicity photographs, reviews, director's notes, scripts,
rehearsal schedules, costume lists, and other details of stage production.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by date of production.
Box 1
The Night of the Iguana
1966
Box 19, Folder 2
Repertory Theatre at Irvine
1967
Box 1
Oedipus Tyrannos
1967 February
Box 1
The Apollo of Bellac, Play, and
The Death of Morris Biedermann
1967 March
Box 2
Six Characters in Search of an Author
1967 April
Box 2
The Good Woman of Setzuan
1968
Box 2
The Madwoman of Chaillot
1969 May
Box 3
Waiting for Godot
1969
Scope and Contents note
Notebook contains production photographs only. A handwritten note by Cohen indicates that the original production book disappeared
in 1970.
Box 4
The Möbius Strip
1971 April
Box 5
After the Fall
1973 December
Box 5
Our Town
1974 November
Scope and Contents note
Production staged at the Repertory Company of the Virginia Museum Theatre.
Box 6
Guys and Dolls
1976 November
Box 6
The Three Sisters
1977 June
Box 7
Three Penny Opera
1980 November
Box 7
Bourgeois Gentlemen
1982 February
Box 19, Folder 4
Golden Opinions, Sound and Fury
1983
Box 8
The Plaie Called Corpus Christi
1985 October
Box 9
The Plaie Called Corpus Christi Part II: The Nativity
1986 September
Box 9
King Lear
1986 July
Scope and Contents note
Production staged at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
Box 9
Much Ado About Nothing
1987 August
Scope and Contents note
Production staged at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
Box 10
The Concluding Episodes of the Plaie Called Corpus Christi: "The Passion," "The Ressurection," "The Judgement"
1987 September
Box 10
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1988 July
Scope and Contents note
Production staged at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
Box 10-11
The Magic Flute
1989 November
Box 11
The Winter's Tale
1989 July
Scope and Contents note
Production staged at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
Box 11
The N-Town Passion
1990
Scope and Contents note
Production of
The Plaie Called Corpus Christi, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Box 12
Much Ado About Nothing
1991 August
Scope and Contents note
Production staged at the Beverly Hills Repertory at Theatre Forty.
Box 12
Romeo and Juliet
1992 May
Box 12
Macbeth
1996 June
Scope and Contents note
Production staged at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
Box 13
Dangerous Liaisons
1993 April
Box 13
As You Like It
1994 November
Box 13
Suburbia
1996 May
Scope and Contents note
Production staged at the Graduating Acting Students at the Queensland University of Technology.
Box 14
The Misanthrope
1997 January
Box 14
Measure for Measure
1998 July
Scope and Contents note
Production staged at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
Box 19, Folder 9-11
My Fair Lady
2002 October
Box 20, Folder 3-5
Timon at Athens
2005 April
Box 20, Folder 6-7
Kiss Me, Kate
2006 February
Box 20, Folder 9
Rabbit Hole
2007 September
Subject files Series 2.
1966-2010
Physical Description:
1.5 Linear feet
General Physical Description note:
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series comprises subject files accumulated by Cohen throughout his career at UCI. Files include correspondence and clippings,
articles, materials from the Student Repertory Theatre, and information on the careers of past students. Also included is
an unpublished manuscript titled
Edwin Booth in Performance and accompanying illustrations and research materials. Booth (1833-1893) was a celebrated American stage actor and brother
of the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject or format.
Box-folder 15 : 1
Advertisements and order forms for Cohen books and productions
1985-1993
Box-folder 15 : 2
"Acting at University of California, Irvine"
undated
Box-folder 15 : 3
"Acting power ou la puissance creatrice de l'acteur"
1992
Box 19, Folder 1, Box-folder 15 : 4
"Coming of Age in Elsinore"
1988
Box-folder 15 : 5
"Dragging Carcasses to the Firepit: Acting Theory, Practice, and Pedagogy"
undated
Box 19, Folder 2
"Golden Opinions, Sound and Fury"
1983
Box 19, Folder 3
"Living Under
Tibi's Law"
2004
Box-folder 15 : 6
"Quince's Moon--Disfiguring Reality in
A Midsummer Night's Dream"
1989
Box 19, Folder 4, Box-folder 15 : 7
"Repertory Theatre at Irvine"
1967
Box-folder 15 : 8
"Shakespeare's Sixteen-Year-Old Hamlet"
1973
Box-folder 15 : 9
"Some Political Implications of
The Madwoman of Chaillot"
1968
Box-folder 15 : 10
"Spoken Dialog in Written Drama"
1984
Box-folder 15 : 11
"Tears (and Acting) in Shakespeare"
1995
Box-folder 15 : 12
Miscellaneous
1976, 1987, undated
Box-folder 15 : 13
Articles on distancing actors from their roles
1999, undated
Box-folder 15 : 14
Biographical information
1986-1992, undated
Box-folder 15 : 21
Conferences and symposiums
1983-1988, 1999
Box-folder 15 : 22-27
Correspondence
1967-1999, undated
Box 19, Folder 5
Dramaturg notebooks and scripts
1993-2010
Edwin Booth in Performance
Box-folder 15 : 28
Bibliography and chronology
1967
Box-folder 15 : 32
Offprint: "Hamlet as Edwin Booth"
1969
Box-folder 15 : 37
Lectures and talks
1987, undated
Box-folder 15 : 36
McCulloch, Samuel: interview transcript
1990
Box-folder 15 : 38, Box 19, Folder 8-9
Photographic materials
2008 and undated
Scope and Content note
Includes photographic prints, slides, and digital images on CD.
Access
Original CDs with digital files are restricted. Researchers should request that use copies be made.
Box-folder 15 : 40-41, Box 19, Folder 6
Programs
1962-2005 and undated
Box-folder 15 : 42
Reviews and citations lists
1986-1992
Student's Repertory Theatre (UCI)
Box-folder 16 : 9, FB-063 : 4
Box-folder 16 : 12
Tour business materials
1967
Box 19, Folder 7
UCI Drama Alumni Newsletter
1987-2004
Box-folder 16 : 13-15
Filmographies, headshots, and other materials
1997-2003, undated
Box-folder 16 : 17
Writings dedicated to Cohen
1983-1984
Textbooks and journals Series 3.
1970-2011
Physical Description:
1.5 Linear feet
Scope and Content Note
This series consists of drama and theatre textbooks authored by Cohen, as well as journals that contain articles written by
Cohen. Some books are in languages other than English.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by title of book or journal.
Box 17
Acting in Shakespeare, second edition (A Smith and Kraus Book)
2005
Box 17
Acting One (Mayfield Publishing Company)
1984
Box 17
Acting One, fifth edition (McGraw-Hill)
2008
Box 17
Acting One/Acting Two, fifth edition (McGraw-Hill)
2008
Box 17
Acting Power (Mayfield Publishing Company)
1978
Box 17
Advanced Acting Style, Character, and Performance (McGraw-Hill Higher Education)
2002
Box 17
A Jatek Hatalma (ALFA Studio Budapest)
1993
Box 17
A Szinesz-mesterseg Alapjai (Jelenkor Kiado)
1998
Box 18
The Drama Review: a Journal of Performance Studies
1991 Spring
Box 17
Educational Theatre Journal
1973 May
Box 18
Enjoy the Play (McGraw-Hill)
2003
Box 17
Essays in Theatre, volume 4 number 2
1986 May
Box 17
Giraudoux: Three Faces of Destiny (The University of Chicago Press)
1968
Box 17
Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, volume 10 number 1 (the University of Kansas)
1995 Fall
Box 17
More Power To You (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books)
2002
Box 17
Oedipus Tyrannus, A Norton Critical Edition (W.W. Norton & Company, Inc)
1970
Box 18
Pamietnik Teatralny (Warszawa)
2001
Box 18
Puterea Interpretarii Scenice (Anca Maniutiu)
2007
Box 18
Slavic and East European Performance, volume 20 number 2 (Institute for Contemporary East European Drama and Theatre)
2000 Summer
Box 18
Stanislavski-Symposium I Stockholm
1986
Box 18
Theatre, fifth edition (Mayfield Publishing Company)
1999
Box 18
Theatre, ninth edition (McGraw-Hill)
2011
Box 18
Theatre Brief Edition, seventh edition (McGraw-Hill)
2005
Box 18
Theatre Brief Version, ninth edition (McGraw-Hill)
2010
Box 18
Theatre Topics, volume 5 number 2 (The John Hopkins University Press)
1995 September
Box 18
Twelve Plays for Theatre (Mayfield Publishing Company)
1994
