Lee Kissman Alternative Theater Collection

Collection

Identifier: MS-MS-ms162

Staff Only

The Lee Kissman Alternative Theater Collection consists of a range of material, including handbills and playbills, programs, scripts, posters, correspondence, and photographs collected by Kissman related not only to the productions he appeared in, but also to events and shows produced by friends and colleagues. Highlights include the only known typescript extant of Sam Shepard’s first play, Cowboys, along with the original printed program for the production; a typescript of another early unpublished Shepard play, Up to Thursday; Man Fly, Shepard’s unproduced, unpublished adaptation of “Doctor Faustus;” Kissman’s working typescripts for other productions; original photographs and posters from Shepard and other Theater Genesis performances, etc.

Dates

Creation: 1952-2017

Creator

Kissman, Lee (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Some restrictions. Please contact Curator for more details.

Conditions Governing Use

Users of the collection must read and agree to abide by the rules and procedures set forth in the Materials Use Policies.

Providing access to materials does not constitute permission to publish or otherwise authorize use. All publication not covered by fair use or other exceptions is restricted to those who have permission of the copyright holder, which may or may not be Washington University.

If you wish to publish or license Special Collections materials, please contact Special Collections to inquire about copyright status at (314) 935-5495 or spec@wumail.wustl.edu. (Publish means quotation in whole or in part in seminar or term papers, theses or dissertations, journal articles, monographs, books, digital forms, photographs, images, dramatic presentations, transcriptions, or any other form prepared for a limited or general public.)

Extent

15.00 boxes

Additional Description

Biographical Information

Lee Kissman (1941 - ) has been active for decades in the experimental and alternative theatre scenes in New York and Los Angeles. He was a founding member of the Theater Genesis troupe, which was, along with the Caffe Cino, La MaMa, and the Judson Poets Theatre, one of the key venues of the Off-Off-Broadway movement in Lower Manhattan in the 1960s. In October 1964 Theater Genesis premiered Cowboys and The Rock Garden, a double bill of the first two plays by the 20-year-old Sam Shepard; Lee Kissman starred in the latter. Kissman appeared in several other Shepard plays through the rest of the 1960s and early 1970s, along with steady work in many other productions. He has also directed and written for the stage. In the 1970s he moved to Los Angeles, where he cofounded the Padua Hills Playwright’s Festival and continued to work extensively in alternative theatre, with playwrights such as María Irene Fornés, John Steppling, Murray Mednick, and many others. He won an Obie Award from the Village Voice in 1970 for his work in Shepard’s The Unseen Hand, and multiple Drama-Logue and LA Weekly Theater Awards, including a 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award. - Triolet Rare Books