Description
In the summer of 1963, University of Minnesota graduate student Marlow S. Hotchkiss, artist James F. Faber, actor John Shimek,
and actor and director Charles Morrison III renovated an 1894 fire station in Minneapolis, Minnesota as the Firehouse Theater.
The group conceived the theater as a venue for avant-garde drama and as a vehicle for new playwrights in the Twin Cities area.
The company relocated to San Francisco in 1969. The Firehouse Theater Company Archives (1963-1974) includes scripts, scores,
director's notes, posters, programs, photographic prints, films, workshop notebooks, reviews, correspondence, legal and financial
documents, blueprints, and promotional material.
Background
In the summer of 1963, University of Minnesota graduate student Marlow S. Hotchkiss, artist James F. Faber, actor John Shimek,
and actor and director Charles Morrison III renovated an 1894 firestation in Minneapolis, Minnesota as the Firehouse Theater.
The group conceived the theater as a venue for avant-garde drama and as a vehicle for new playwrights in the Twin Cities area.
The Firehouse Theater Company's first play The Connection by Jack Gelber, opened on August 22, 1963. The evening included a post-play discussion between the audience and the cast
and director, which became a regular feature of Firehouse Theater productions.
Restrictions
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 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.
Availability
Collection is open for research under regular Reading Room rules and copyright restrictions.