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David Gaard Theatrical Works
Coll2008-072
Coll2008-072
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Table of contents
Title: David Gaard theatrical works
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2008-072
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
5.0 linear feet.
Date (inclusive): circa 1966-2007
Abstract: Scripts and screenplays of original theatrical works and adaptations for the stage and screen by David Gaard, alone and in
collaboration with others, together with some production and performance materials, including contracts, set designs, e-mails,
schedules, flyers, postcards, programs, and reviews.
creator:
Gaard, David, 1945-2012
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the
physical owner. Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in the materials. Note that ONE
National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for all other materials directly from the copyright
holder(s).
Box #, folder #, David Gaard theatrical Works, Coll2008-072, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Gift of David Gaard per deeds of gift dated December 29, 2001, February 22, 2005, and November 20, 2007.
Collection processed by Michael C. Oliveira, December 2008.
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
David Gaard was born April 4, 1945, in Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated from high school early, just after his 16th birthday.
He attended the University of Minnesota; however his participation in Vietnam War protests, a role in a university theater
production, and an active social life left little time for his studies. In the autumn, he left school and stayed in Minneapolis,
obtaining a role in a community theater production. When the show closed, he convinced his parents of his need to "find himself",
and with their blessings he left for Los Angeles.
He found a number of positions through the California State Employment Office, including one with a Hollywood casting agency.
Gaard also found bit parts in various stage productions through Minnesotan connections. His work and social life continued
to leave little time to complete projects; after leaving a group sales position, Gaard returned to writing. For three months,
he focused on writing through each afternoon, allowing time in the evening for his social life. By early 1967, he had completed
his first play,
Lee Foster. After receiving positive feedback from friends, he relocated to New York City to sell his play.
In the city he found a "dark and depressing studio apartment in the bowels of Hells Kitchen", a job, and within a month met
his future partner, M. Sanford Kaplan, a married graduate anthropology student at New York University. While Kaplan sought
to overcome his ambivalence about his future, Gaard returned to writing. By the autumn of 1968, Gaard had completed the play,
And Puppy Dog Tails, and he and Kaplan were living together. The play previewed in September, only months after the Stonewall riots, and ran
successfully through January 1970 in New York, and through that summer in San Francisco. The following year, Bill Murray played
a part in a Chicago production.
Off-Off Broadway, with its understanding of the counter culture of which Gaard and Kaplan were a part, was booming. Gaard
continued writing and Kaplan continued his graduate work, including a trip to Bali in the early 1970s. They arranged to meet
in Nepal; during the trip Gaard purchased a script for Sun Yu's play
The Women's Representative. He adapted the play and it was performed in New York. This changed the fortunes of Mr. Sun and led to Gaard's trip to the
People's Republic of China a decade later.
In New York City, Gaard's works were been performed at The Old Reliable and The Extension; he adapted works for Richard Schechner's
Performance Group and was a founding member of the Nighthouse Company. In 1975, Gaard and Kaplan left New York for Northern
California. With the advent of AIDS, "the whimsical world of
And Puppy Dog Tails had turned into a vicious frightening mad dog". They sold their telecom business, relocated to Woodstock, New York, and Gaard
returned to writing in the early 1990s.
In 1994, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC) selected one of his plays for a reading of new works at
Lincoln Center. In the following years Gaard worked with avant-garde troupes such as GAil GAtes et al, Gorilla Repertory Theatre
Company, The International WOW, and New York Fringe Festival. The New Jersey Public Library selected his play,
Made for Each Other, for their AIDS awareness series in 1996; however, library officials closed the play during the opening night intermission.
Gaard continued with several success productions at the HERE Arts Center. He garnered the Audience Favorite Award for his
production of
All's Well That Ends Well at the 2000 New York Fringe Festival. Gaard lived in New York, New York with his life companion of 45 years, until his death
in March 2012.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains original and adapted works of playwright David Gaard, written alone and in collaboration with others,
including his long-term partner, M. Sanford Kaplan. The materials include proposals, treatments, drafts, scripts, and screenplays
for developed and undeveloped projects. The production project files contain a variety of production and promotional documentation,
including scripts, set designs, e-mails, schedules, flyers, postcards, programs, and reviews. The collection consists of three
series (1) Original Works, (2) Adaptations and Productions, and (3) Personal and Miscellaneous.
Bausch, Richard, 1945-
Brecht, Bertold, 1898-1956
Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898
Cummins, Robert
Ionesco, Eugene, 1909-1994
Kaplan, M. Sanford
Kingsley, Sidney, 1906-1995
Lentsch, Bill
Muldowney, Dominic, 1952-
Peterson, John
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
Sophocles, 496 BCE-406 BCE
Swenson, Swen, 1932-
Weill, Kurt, 1900-1950
Yu, Sun, 1900-
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gay dramatists
Gay theater
Screenplays
Scripts (documents)
Stage adaptations
Treatments (documents)