Finding aid to the Ivy Theatre records, 1996-2006
Coll2013.059
Finding aid prepared by Simbree Touchstone and Loni Shibuyama
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California, 90007
(213) 741-0094
askone@ONEarchives.org
(c) 2013
Title: Ivy Theatre Records
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2013.059
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.3 linear feet.
1 archive carton + 1 archive flat box.
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1998-2000
Date (inclusive): 1996-2006
Abstract: Press material, theater production files, contracts, correspondence, clippings, financial records, photographs, a promotional
videocassette (VHS) and other material, 1996-2006, from the Ivy Theatre, a lesbian theatre founded in 1998 in Los Angeles
and named in honor of lesbian feminist activist, Ivy Bottini. Marian Jones served as artistic director.
creator:
Ivy Theatre.
Administrative History
The Ivy Theatre Company was a non-profit organization whose mission was to provide the opportunity for lesbian playwrights
to share their visions and voices; while also fostering the understanding and acceptance of diverse persons through education,
activism, and performing arts. The Ivy Theatre was founded in 1998 in honor of veteran lesbian feminist activist and performer
Ivy Bottini, as the first and only lesbian-focused theatre company in Los Angeles, California.
The Ivy Theatre was co-founded by Artistic Director, Marian Jones and Literary Director, Mary Casey. Casey served as Artist
in Residence at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center where she taught lesbian playwriting workshops and founded the Lesbian
Playwriting Festival in 1995. Los Angeles' premier gay theatre, The Gay and Lesbian Celebration Theatre in Hollywood, California,
produced some of the plays that came out of these workshops.
Shortly after Jones produced the 2nd Annual Lesbian Playwrights Festival in July of 1996 at Celebration Theatre, Robert Shrock,
the Artistic Director of Celebration, invited Jones to serve as Artistic Director of the Lesbian Theatre Initiative. After
agreeing, Jones teamed up with Casey to create a separate physical space for lesbian playwrights, actors, and technicians
under the umbrella of Celebration. That space became the Ivy Theatre Company, where productions such as Alicia Madrid's
Shame on the Moon, and Dee Jae Cox's
The Rape of Djuna Barnes would garner much critical acclaim. In addition to ongoing theatrical productions, the Ivy hosted the Lesbian Playwrights
Staged Readings Festival, directing and acting classes, and radio theatre broadcasted on KPFK 90.7FM. The Ivy's impressive
undertaking of lesbian outreach was largely thanks to a plethora of donations, including several grants from The City of West
Hollywood, The California Community Foundation's Gay and Lesbian Fund, and the Arch and Bruce Foundation. The Ivy Theatre
has been inactive since 2006.
Source:
[Box/folder #, or item name] Ivy Theatre Records, Coll2013-059, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries 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.
Acquisition
Received by Yolanda Retter of the Lesbian Legacy Collection. Donor and exact date of acquisition unknown.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] Ivy Theatre Records, Coll2013-059, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Loni Shibuyama with the assistance of Simbree Touchstone, June 2013.
Related Material
Ivy Bottini Papers, Coll2009-005, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Scope and Contents
This collection comprises press material, theater production files, contracts, correspondence, clippings, financial records,
photographs, a promotional videocassette (VHS) and other material, 1996-2006, from the Ivy Theatre, a lesbian theater founded
in Los Angeles in 1998 and named in honor of lesbian feminist activist, Ivy Bottini. The collection includes production files
from
Letters Home,
The Rape of Djuna Barnes and
Shame on the Moon, plays produced by the Ivy Theatre between 1998-2000.
Arrangement
Press kits about the Ivy Theatre are at the beginning of the collection. The remaining folders are arranged alphabetically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bottini, Ivy, 1926
Jones, Marian
Advertising fliers
Correspondence
Drama
Homosexuality in the theater
Lesbian authors
Lesbian dramatists
Lesbian theater
Lesbian writings
Plays
Box 1, Folder 5
Correspondence and memoranda
1998-2006
Box 1, Folder 6
Directors' contracts
1998
Box 1, Folder 8-16
Financial records
1996-2000
Box 1, Folder 8-9
General
2000
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 1, Folder 10
Credit card services
1996
Box 1, Folder 13-14
Profit and loss
1999-2000
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 2, Item 1
"Ivy Theatre Company" canvas bag
circa 1996-2006
Box VV, Item VV1417
"The Ivy Theatre Video"
1996-2006
General note
1 videocassette (VHS) and 1 copy.
Box 1, Folder 17-18
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
1998
Physical Description:
[2 folder]
Box 1, Folder 19
Mailing list
circa 1996-2006
Box 1, Folder 24
Photographs
circa 1996-2006
General Physical Description note: Includes 3 photographs: b&w, col.
Box 1, Folder 25
Post office box rental
1999
Box 1, Folder 27
Printing and mailers
1998-1999
Box 1, Folder 29
Press material, flyers and press releases
1998-2006
Box 1, Folder 30
Purple Circuit contacts
1998
Box 1, Folder 31-40
The Rape of Djuna Barnes
1998-1999
Box 1, Folder 31
The Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation
1998
Box 1, Folder 37
Program and design
1998-1999
Box 1, Folder 41-43
Shame on the Moon
1998-2000
Box 1, Folder 44
Short & Sexy invoices
1998
