Guide to the Robert Cohen Papers
Processed by Audrey Pearson; machine-readable finding aid created by Audrey Pearson
Special Collections and Archives
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Phone: (949) 824-3947
Fax: (949) 824-2472
Email: spcoll@uci.edu
URL: http://special.lib.uci.edu
© 2007
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Robert Cohen papers
Date: 1966-2004
Collection Number: MS-P069
Creator:
Cohen, Robert, 1938 -
Extent:
7.1 linear feet
(16 boxes and 1 oversized folder)
Languages: The collection is in English.
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Abstract: This collection comprises papers of Robert Cohen, a professor of drama and founding faculty member at the University of California,
Irvine. Forty-six 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.
Important Information for Researchers
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
Gift of Robert Cohen, 2005. Additions are expected.
Processing History
Processed by Audrey Pearson, 2007.
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.
Biography/Organization History
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. Forty-six 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, and an unpublished manuscript titled
Edwin Booth in Performance.
Collection Arrangement
This collection is arranged in two series.
- Series 1. Production books, 1966-1999. 5.6 linear feet
- Series 2. Subject files, 1966-2004. 1.5 linear feet
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Cohen, Robert, 1938- -- Archives.
University of California, Irvine -- Faculty -- Archives.
University of California, Irvine. Dept. of Drama -- Archives.
Drama -- 20th century -- Study and Teaching -- College and school drama -- Archives.
Genres and Formats of Materials
Theater programs -- 20th century.
Acting editions -- 20th century.
Acting editions -- 21st century.
Costume design drawings -- 20th century.
Photographic prints -- 20th century.
Scripts (documents) -- 20th century.
Occupations
Actors.
Directors.
Professors.
Collection Contents
Series 1.
Production books
1966-1999
Physical Description:
5.6 linear feet
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series contains production books 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 is hardbound and 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 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 Content 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 Content 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 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 Content Note
Production staged at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
Box 9
Much Ado About Nothing
1987 August
Scope and Content 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 Content 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 Content Note
Production staged at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
Box 11
The N-Town Passion
1990
Scope and Content 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 Content 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 Content 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 Content 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 Content Note
Production staged at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
Series 2.
Subject files
1966-2004,
1967-1999
Physical Description:
1.5 linear feet
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 : 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 : Folder 15 : 6
"Quince's Moon--Disfiguring Reality in
A Midsummer Night's Dream"
1989
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
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 : 36
Lectures and talks
1987,
undated
Box : Folder 15 : 37
McCulloch, Samuel: interview transcript
1990
Box : Folder 15 : 40-41
Programs
1962-1968,
1999,
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 : Folder 16 : 13-15
Filmographies, headshots, and other materials
1997-2003,
undated
Box : Folder 16 : 17
Writings dedicated to Cohen
1983-1984
