The Women Here Are No Different

mnsss68 Theatre of Light and Shadow: A Company of Women Records, 1978-1984 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Susan Boone. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College

Northampton, MA

2003

Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Brook Hopkins. 2003-06-06 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mnsss68 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Sophia Smith CollectionSmith College Theatre of Light and Shadow: A Company of Women Records, 1978-1984 Finding Aid MS 370 Susan Boone 1987 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Theatre of Light and Shadow Theatre of Light and Shadow Records1978-1984 MS 370 11 boxes (5 linear ft.) Sophia Smith Collection

Smith College Northampton, MA

Theater company. An innovative women's theatre company, the Theatre of Light and Shadow was dedicated to theatre as both art and communication and to feminism as a lifestyle. Materials include correspondence, publicity, programs, scripts, and photographs. English. Historical Note

Playbill for The Women Here Are No Different, November 1982

The Theatre of Light and Shadow was founded in l977 by K.D. Codish, Belinda Beezley, and Ruth Beaumont and incorporated in l980. As an innovative women's theatre company, it was dedicated to theatre as both art and communication and to feminism as a lifestyle. In addition to performances the theatre conducted workshops, performed for other feminist activities, and served as a liaison with other organizations to promote opportunities for women in the arts. The group disbanded in August l983.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Records of the Theatre of Light and Shadow: a Company of Women (TLS) consist of 5 linear feet of correspondence, notes, publicity, programs, financial records, printed ephemera, scripts, and photographs. They span the years 1978 to 1984 and describe the company's activities and administration as well as performances and conferences.

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into two series:

I. Administration II. Activities Miscellaneous Scripts Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

The records are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.

The Sophia Smith Collection owns copyright to the Theatre of Light and Shadow Records. Permission must be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use."

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Theatre of Light and Shadow Records, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

History of the Collection

The records were donated in June l986 by Nancy Lee Kathan, business manager of the Theatre of Light and Shadow.

Processed by Susan Boone, 1987.

Search Terms Women in the theater--United States--History--20th century--Sources Feminist theater--History--Sources Theatre of Light and Shadow--History--Sources Women dramatists, American--20th century--Sources SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION

This series contains six sections: Organization, Personnel, Financial, Publicity, Meetings and Correspondence. The Organization section contains two notebooks (1979-1981) used by the staff of TLS. These were kept intact and contain incorporation materials, by-laws, tax and grant information, resumes, and audience questionnaires. Also in this section are rehearsal and production space contracts, agreements, and invoices. Personnel contains resumes, correspondence, clippings, notes, articles, and job descriptions for 6 principals of TLS plus general membership lists and requirements for the company as a whole. Financial consists of reports, budgets, expenditures, income statements, plus foundation correspondence, notes, applications, and brochures. Publicity contains TLS brochure photographs and graphics as well as general clippings and miscellaneous publicity. The Meetings section contains notes and agenda for general company meetings. The Correspondence is general in nature, to and from TLS, and arranged chronologically.

SERIES II. ACTIVITIES

This series contains two sections; Performances and Conferences. Performances is arranged chronologically (1978-1983) and includes photographs, reviews, programs, publicity, scripts, and evaluations for individual performances. Included also in this section are scripts received by TLS for possible production. The two conferences in the Conferences section are Women's Health Weekend and Women in Theatre. TLS participated in the Women's Health Weekend, and the records contain the program and publicity. Women in Theatre was a major conference sponsored by TLS in 1982 with a grant from the Connecticut Humanities Council. The records include organizational correspondence, publicity, scripts, the participants' resumes and evaluations, reel to reel tapes and transcripts of the sessions, Connecticut Humanities Council correspondence, proposals, and expenditures; and, finally, audience evaluations of the conference.

SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION Organization 1 1 Notebook containing incorporation, papers, by-laws, IRS material, 1979-82 1 2 Notebook containing grant information, audience questionnaires, resumes, 1980-81 1 3 Rehearsal and production space: contracts, invoices, agreements, 1978-82 Personnel Nancy Lee Kathan, business manager 1 4 Resume, job-related correspondence, 1982 1 5 City of New Haven Commission on Cultural Affairs: correspondence, meetings, 1983 1 6 K.D. Codish, artistic director, business manager and founder: clippings, articles about her, notes, 1980-83 1 7 Marion Visel, development consultant: resumes, notes, job description, 1980-81 1 8 Belinda Beezley, Karen Bernstein, Ruth Beaumont: clippings about them, 1980-81 1 9 General: lists, resumes, job description, membership requirements, 1978-83 Financial 2 10 Reports, budgets, 1980-81 2 11 Expenditures, income statements, 1979-83 2 12 Miscellaneous funding information and correspondence, 1980-81 Foundations 2 13 Business Opportunities (marketing project): correspondence, notes, 1981 2 14 Connecticut Commission on the Arts: correspondence, brochures, notes, 1981-83

[Connecticut Humanities Council--See: Women in Theatre Conference, Boxes 10-11]

2 15 Haymarket People's Fund: correspondence, notes, applications, brochures, 1981-82 2 16 New Haven Foundation, Arts Challenge Fund: correspondence, notes, drafts, 1980-81 Publicity Brochure 2 17 Drafts, n.d. 2 18 Photographs, n.d. 2 19 Clippings, 1978-83 2 20 Graphics, n.d. 2 21 Miscellaneous, n.d. Meetings 2 22 Notes (notebook including a section entitled TLS records in chronoligical order 7/31/79-7/2/80), 1979 Sep 24-1980 Ju1 14 2 23 Notes, 1979-81 2 24 Agenda, notices, 1981 Sept-1982 Nov 3 25-27 Correspondence, 1978 Feb-1983 Sept, n.d. SERIES II. ACTIVITIES Performances 4 28 "Voices": program, reviews, 2 photographs, 1978 Apr-May 4 29 "Second Round": reviews, program, performance and production notes, 1978 Sept "Clue in the Old Birdbath", 1979 Apr-Jun 4 30 Publicity, script, 10 photographs 4 31 Audience evaluations 4 32 Take Back the Night March: publicity, 1979 Jul 4 33 "Water Cycle": program, 1979 Aug 4 34 "In the Gloaming, Oh My Darling": publicity notes, photograph, 1979 Nov-Dec 4 35 "An Afternoon of Short Pieces":program, 1980 Feb 4 36 "The Woman Warrior": publicity, 1980 Mar 4 37 "Can't You Take a Joke?": script, publicity correspondence, program, photograph, 1980 May "This Brooding Sky", 1980 Jul 4 38 Publicity, script, expenses 4 39 Audience evaluations 4 40 "Recipe": script, 1980 Aug 4 41 "Connecticut Women": publicity,correspondence, 1981 Mar-Apr "Five Plays", 1981 May-Jun 4 42 Publicity, finances 4 43 Audience evaluations 4 44 "TLS Showcase": scripts, 1981 4 45 Take Back the Night March: "Three Victims": script, correspondence, 1981 Sept "Summer Salon", 1982 Jul-Aug 4 46 General publicity 4 47 Miscellaneous Performances 4 48 Program, script, photographs, 1982 Jul 7 4 49 Program, script, notes, 1982 Jul 14 4 50 Program, script, notes, 1982 Jul 21 4 51 Program, script, notes, 1982 Jul 28 4 52 Program, script, notes, 1982 Aug 4 4 53 Program, scripts, 1982 Aug 6 "The Women Here Are No Different", 1982 Nov Publicity 5 54 Press releases, graphics, notes, 4 photographs, miscellaneous 5 55 Advertisement agreements 5 56 Scripts 5 57 Auditions, cast and crew lists, personnel Tour 1983 Feb-Apr 5 58 New England Theatre Conference: program 5 59 Notes, correspondence, press releases, miscellaneous 5 60 Production information: notes, financial reports, rehearsal space, miscellaneous "Winter Salon", 1983 Feb 2-23 5 61 Publicity 5 62 Script for performances 5 63 "That's Not Funny": scripts, 1983 Mar 5 5 64 Miscellaneous performances 5 65 Unidentified production notes, n.d. 6-7 Miscellaneous scripts 1983 Feb 2-23

[See Miscellaneous Scripts]

Conferences 8 66 Women's Health Weekend: program, publicity, 1979 Apr Women in Theatre, 1982 Feb 24-Mar 31 8 67 Correspondence Publicity 8 68 Brochure 8 69 Clippings, press releases 8 70 Programs 8 71 Scripts Participants 8 72-73 Correspondence A-Z 8 74 Resumes 8 75 Transcripts of papers 8 76 Evaluations 8 77 Permissions for videotaping 8 78 Miscellaneous notes and unidentified material 9 Tapes Connecticut Humanities Council 10 79 Organization of project 10 80 Grant proposals, related correspondence and printed material 10 81 Expenditures and budget reports 11 82-88 Audience evaluations MISCELLANEOUS SCRIPTS Scripts in Box 6 6 Ausubel, Bobbi. "Focus on Me" 6 Brady, Maureen. "I Know A Hundred Ways To Die" 6 Churchill, Caryl. "Vinegar Tom" 6 Crawford, Olive & Rori Reber, Penelope Stella, Judith Utevsky. "Intrusions," 1980 6 Fagen, Patricia. "Dolls" 6 Gems, Pam. "Dusa, Fish, Stas & Vi" 6 Goldemberg, Rose Leiman. "Letters Home" 6 Goodman, Wendy-Marie. "Nazi Dreams," 1980 6 Green, Phyllis. "Acapulco Holiday" 6 Hairston, Andrea. "Locked Out Of The World," 1982 6 Lee, Maryat. "Puse," 1971 6 McDonough, Kaye. "Zelda," 1978 6 Miller, Susan. "Confessions Of A Female Disorder" 6 Norman, Marsha. "The Laundromat," 1978 6 Plays by the Women's Repertory Theatre Company of Long Island and Collected Short Plays by Nicholas White 6 Simmons, Lydia. "When Other Friendships Have Been Forgot" Scripts in Box 7 7 Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective 7 Wilshire, Donna. "Daughters Of Liberty" 7 Unidentified scripts