Scope and Contents
This collection, compiled by literary agent Gordon Dickerson of Fraser
& Dunlop Scripts Ltd., contains material related to the careers of modern
British playwrights Michael Frayn, David Hare, Tony Harrison, John Osborne, Tom
Stoppard, and David Storey. The archive includes scripts, programs and
playbills, reviews, articles, biographical material, business correspondence,
contracts, and posters. While some original manuscript material is present,
especially Stoppard scripts, the bulk of the collection comprises newspaper
clippings and magazine articles.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by playwright in six series:
I. Michael Frayn (1 box); II. David Hare (1 folder); III. Tony Harrison (2
boxes); IV. John Osborne (3 boxes); V. Tom Stoppard (13 boxes), and VI. David
Storey (2 boxes).
Series I, containing material by and about Michael Frayn, is divided
into two subseries: Subseries A. Works, and Subseries B. Articles,
Correspondence, Playbills, Posters, and Reviews. The works in Subseries A
include playscripts for
Alphabetical Order,
Benefactors,
Donkey's Years, and
Noises Off. Subseries B contains articles
and biographical material on Frayn, as well as articles by and about his wife
Claire Tomalin. Minimal correspondence is present, a letter each to Frayn and
Dickerson, along with two revisions of Karen Blansfield's entry on Frayn in
British Playwrights Since 1956 (Greenwood,
1996). Reviews include his adaptations and translations:
La Belle Vivette,
Exchange, and works by Chekhov; books:
A Landing on the Sun,
Now You Know (also for stage), and
The Trick of It; plays:
Alphabetical Order;
Benefactors;
Clouds;
Donkeys' Years;
Look, Look;
Make and Break (also for BBC TV);
Noises Off;
The Sandboy; and
The Two of Us; screenplay:
Clockwise; and work for television:
First and Last.
Programs for two works by David Hare,
A Map of the World and
Pravda: A Fleet Street Comedy, are present
in Series II. Also included is Hare's review of Tony Richardson's memoir
Long Distance Runner.
Series III contains articles, programs, and reviews for works of
theatrical poet Tony Harrison. The articles and interviews with Harrison date
from 1986-1993, while a published bibliography by John Kaiser covers the years
1957-87. Also included are programs and reviews for his adaptations:
The Bartered Bride,
The Misanthrope, and
Orestia; book and film:
The Gaze of the Gorgon; music-theatre:
Bow Down and
Phaedra Britannica; works for television:
The Big H,
The Blasphemers' Banquet,
Black Daisies for the Bride,
Loving Memory; and theater:
Medea: SexWar,
Poetry or Bust,
Square Rounds,
Trackers of Oxyrhynchus, and
V.
The works of John Osborne, from the debut of his angry young man in
Look Back in Anger (1956) to his angry old
years and death in 1994, are represented in Series IV. The series is divided
into Subseries A. Works; Subseries B. Programs, Playbills, and Reviews; and
Subseries C. Articles, Contracts, and Correspondence. Osborne's works in
Subseries A include scripts for
The World of Paul Slickey and
You're Not Watching Me, Mummy. Subseries B
contains programs, playbills, and reviews for Osborne's works which are
arranged by the title. Included are his memoir
Almost a Gentleman; adaptations:
The Father (Strindberg) and
The Picture of Dorian Gray; collected prose:
Damn You, England; and plays:
Déjàvu,
The Entertainer,
Epitaph for George Dillon (with Anthony
Creighton),
The Hotel in Amsterdam,
Inadmissable Evidence,
Look Back in Anger (revival),
Luther,
A Patriot for Me, and
The World of Paul Slickey; and screenplay:
England, My England. Subseries C consists
predominately of newspaper clippings and magazine tearsheets of articles by
both John and Helen Osborne, especially items written for
The Spectator. Articles written about
Osborne from 1973-95, as well as biographical material and obituaries, are also
present.
Osborne's contracts date from 1973-83 and represent such titles as
The Entertainer,
Look Back in Anger (for television),
Luther,
The Picture of Dorian Gray, and
Watch It Come Down. The correspondence,
1973-1993, from the Fraser & Dunlop [also Peters, Fraser & Dunlop]
agency files on Osborne, comprises letters to and from its associates,
Dickerson, Kenneth Ewing, and Robin Dalton. Carbons and photocopies of
Osborne's correspondence are also present. Correspondents include producers for
stage and television, literary agents, and directors, especially Stuart Burge,
Peter Hall, Robert Kidd, Oscar Lewenstein, Michael Rudman, Norman Twain,
Margery Vosper, and Audrey Wood. Included in the correspondence are photocopies
of letters and notes from Osborne to Laura del Bono and Neale Stainton and
theirs to him. Several typescript drafts of articles and reviews Osborne wrote
for publication are also present. This material supplements the Osborne Papers
previously received at the Ransom Center.
The largest series, Series V, contains the work of Tom Stoppard
represented by scripts in Subseries A, followed by Subseries B. Programs,
Playbills, and Posters; Subseries C. Reviews; Subseries D. Articles; and
Subseries E. Career-related Material.
Stoppard's works in Subseries A include playscripts, radio plays,
screenplays, and teleplays, which complement those already received and
cataloged at the Ransom Center and provide important new material for
researchers. The programs, playbills, and posters in Subseries B are arranged
alphabetically by title of the work, as are the reviews in Subseries C.
Numerous articles by and about Stoppard, which date from his early years in
journalism in the 1950s, comprise Subseries D.
Career-related material in Subseries E includes announcements of
Stoppard's 1979 Shakespeare prize and a 1980 commencement program from the
University of Sussex listing Stoppard as the recipient of an honorary degree.
Of particular interest are original copies of agreements and contracts which
date from 1963-1972. Included are contracts with Fraser and Dunlop (Scripts)
Ltd. for
After Magritte (1970),
Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon (1972),
The Real Inspector Hound (1967), and
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
(1966); with Fraser & Dunlop Ltd. for
A Separate Peace (1969); with Faber and
Faber Ltd. for
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
(1967); with Oliver Moon Ltd. for
The Preservation of George Riley (1968);
with Paramount Pictures for
Galileo (1972); and with Anthony Blond Ltd.
for
Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon (1963). Related
correspondence is also present. Additional contracts are found in Kenneth
Ewing's file on Stoppard, while Ewing served as director and chairman of Fraser
& Dunlop (Scripts) Ltd. Dating from 1967-1992, the correspondence includes
photocopied letters and carbons from Stoppard to Dickerson and others. Carbons
of Ewing's outgoing letters, representing Stoppard's interests, form the bulk
of the correspondence.
Series VI represents the works of David Storey, primarily through
programs and reviews. Included are cuttings and programs for his plays
The Changing Room,
The Contractor,
Cromwell,
Early Days,
The Farm,
Home,
In Celebration,
Life Class,
The March on Russia,
Mother's Day,
Otthon,
Pasmore,
Phoenix,
Present Times,
Sisters,
Stages,
Storey's Lives, and
A Temporary Life. Articles on Storey and
biographical material are also present.
The collection was processed according to the compiler's order as
received, except for the organization of programs and reviews into folders by
title. Original folders and descriptions are retained. The material is in good
condition, although deterioration is evident where tape and glue were used to
adhere articles and reviews to supporting pages.