Drury Lane Players

Title: Drury Lane Players

Dates: 1949 - Present

Collection Number: RG005.54

Creator/Collector: La Jolla Historical Society

Extent: 3.5 linear feet

Repository: La Jolla Historical Society

Abstract: The Drury Lane Players Collection is made up of documents, photographs, ephemera, scrapbooks, artwork, and other archival material pertaining to the Drury Lane Players theatrical group and Friends of the Drury Lane Players. The theater group began in 1949 with their first performance being Goethe’s “Faust.” In succeeding years, they performed numerous plays, some of them in an old warehouse on Drury Lane that was converted into a theater. Drury Lane, an alley in La Jolla, was named after the Drury Lane Players who were in turn named after the thespian landmark in London. Later the Players moved their performances to the La Jolla Community Center. The Drury Lane Players grew out of the former La Jolla Players with the theory being that only active members who were willing to work in any capacity should have the privilege of controlling the policies of the group through a vote. It was also their plan to present plays that were as unusual and as experimental as possible. This material pertains to the history and heritage of La Jolla, California; its people, places and events. A container list is included on the PDF and HTML versions.

Language of Material: English

The Collection is open for research

The La Jolla Historical Society holds the copyright to any unpublished materials

[Identification of item]. Drury Lane Players. Collection Number: RG005.54. La Jolla Historical Society

RG005.54

The La Jolla Historical Society inspires and empowers the community to make La Jolla’s diverse past a relevant part of contemporary life. The La Jolla Historical Society’s Collections encompass over 80 years of actively collecting archival material, books, maps, scrapbooks, ephemera, fine art, newspapers, street and land use files, business and personal documents and historic and archaeological artifacts. The Society boasts over 20,000 photographs, over 1000 postcards, 400-plus architectural drawings and approximately 200 oral history recordings. Collecting was initiated by Howard Randolph and volunteers on the historical committee of the Library Association of La Jolla. The Collection began by gathering photographs and documentation in the late 1930s, which later became the nucleus of the La Jolla Historical Society’s Collections. The Society was created in 1963. Through many moves in location the Society continued collecting and expanding. Accumulated Collections took on its current construct in 2010 after the renovation of the La Jolla Historical Society’s campus of structures in central La Jolla, which consists of the 1904 Wisteria Cottage and 1940s Balmer Annex used for exhibits and programming, and a 1909 cottage used for business and research offices. The late Ellen Browning Scripps’ 1916 automobile garage was also renovated and now houses the Collection in a modern collections storage facility. Materials are housed in archival boxes, sleeves, envelopes and other archival-safe materials and are cared for according to standards and best practices of the museum profession. In 2016, the Society initiated new PastPerfect Museum Software to manage and catalog its Collections and in 2018 started using the Online Archive of California to upload searchable information from its Collections to enable improved public access. The Society will continue these processes and look forward to utilizing new opportunities to collect, preserve and share the history of La Jolla.

The Drury Lane Players Collection is made up of documents, photographs, ephemera, scrapbooks, artwork, and other archival material pertaining to the Drury Lane Players theatrical group and Friends of the Drury Lane Players. The theater group began in 1949 with their first performance being Goethe’s “Faust.” In succeeding years, they performed numerous plays, some of them in an old warehouse on Drury Lane that was converted into a theater. Drury Lane, an alley in La Jolla, was named after the Drury Lane Players who were in turn named after the thespian landmark in London. Later the Players moved their performances to the La Jolla Community Center. The Drury Lane Players grew out of the former La Jolla Players with the theory being that only active members who were willing to work in any capacity should have the privilege of controlling the policies of the group through a vote. It was also their plan to present plays that were as unusual and as experimental as possible. This material pertains to the history and heritage of La Jolla, California; its people, places and events. A container list is included on the PDF and HTML versions.