Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Playwrights' Arena archives
- Dates:
- 1992-2017
- Creators:
- Playwrights' Arena (Los Angeles, Calif.)
- Abstract:
- Creative and administrative materials from the Los Angeles, California-based Playwrights' Arena.
- Extent:
- 11 Linear Feet (18 document boxes, 2 cartons)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], Playwrights' Arena archives, CEMA 187. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains production files for various plays and projects produced by the Playwrights' Arena. Materials include scripts and scene plots, internal organizational files, correspondence, contracts, photographs and slides, costume props, and other ephemera.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Playwrights' Arena is a non-profit organization founded in 1992 by its artistic director Jon Lawrence Rivera and Steve Tyler. It is an organization dedicated to diversity and inclusivity among its writers and artists, its management, its board, its audiences, and also among the points of view of the works it develops and produces. This worldview applies also to its artistic education programs.
Playwrights' Arena discovers, nurtures, and produces new works for the stage written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights through readings, workshops and round table discussions. Some recent examples include The End Times (2016), Blood Letting (2018), and I Go Somewhere Else (2019). Local playwrights are encouraged to create original, adventurous, daring materials with the intent of challenging the mind, touching the heart, and provoking the spirit.
Playwrights' Arena encourages experimentation with work that pushes boundaries in theme and content, and that also provides a thought-provoking experience for the audience and performers alike. Playwrights' Arena is also dedicated to using its resources and talents to educate and inspire students through a strong mentoring/educational component where ideas flow both ways.
The Playwrights' Arena archives was established as a CEMA collection in 2017. As the organization remains active, the collection continues to grow.
- Acquisition information:
- Gifts of Jon Lawrence Rivera, August 2017 and August 2025.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection is arranged by topic into two series:
- Series 1: Production materials
- Series 2: Other administrative materials
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-02-19 14:45:13 -0800 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and may be retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.
All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@library.ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assignees for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], Playwrights' Arena archives, CEMA 187. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Location of this collection:
-
UC Santa Barbara LibrarySanta Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
- Contact:
- (805) 893-3062