T Arts: Drama

DATE: 1935-1950

LEVEL: Series

Arts Drama records include correspondence with Michael Chekhov and other members and students of the Chekhov Theatre Studio; budget information for drama activities including the drama school; letters and reports of Beatrice Straight; a British Aliens Register (c1940) for members of the Chekhov Theatre Studio; records documenting the rural drama movement in Devon (with correspondence from Mary Kelly (British Drama League) and others); formative records of the Children's Theatre Service; and records of the Travelling Repertory Theatre and its leader, Basil Langton.

Also included are Barn Theatre records; programme records; Playgoers' Society records, including those of the amateur group, the Northerners; sketches and set designs, including those by Reece Pemberton; drama course information and production records. Finally there are records of an American Theatre Summer School held in 1950, including seminars with Arch Lauterer.

In 1934 it was decided to look for some prominent man of the theatre who would found a School or Studio at Dartington, with the same general aims as the School of Dance, to train students for the professional theatre. Beatrice Straight met and studied under Michael Chekhov in New York. He was formerly of the Second Moscow Art Theatre, and had been a refugee from the Soviet Union since 1928. Chekhov and his wife paid a preliminary visit to Dartington in 1935, and preparations for the Theatre Studio at Dartington began. The purpose of the Chekhov Theatre Studio was firstly, to train young people as actors capable of creating a new standard for modern theatre, and secondly to form a permanent touring company to introduce the work of the Studio to the outside world.

Beatrice Straight was instrumental in establishing the Chekhov Theatre Studio at Dartington. It
began with 22 students, including some Americans. When war began to threaten in Europe, she found a new American home for Michael Chekhov and most of his students in Ridgefield, Connecticut. After their departure in 1938, dramatic activity at Dartington was continued by estate amateurs, by touring companies and by the dramatic element in ballet and opera.

(For more information see Victor Bonham-Carter's Report to the Trustees; Dartington Hall 1925-56)

Information for Researchers

All papers belonging to The Dartington Hall Trust Archive (with the exclusion of Dartington Hall School pupils individual records) are held at the Devon Record Office. All enquiries relating to research should be made to Devon Records Office, Great Moor House, Bittern Road, Sowton, Exeter, Devon EX2 7NL
+44 (0)1392 384253
+44 (0)1392 384256
devrec@devon.gov.uk
www.devon.gov.uk/record_office

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Former pupils of Dartington Hall School wishing to view their records
Archives & Records
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This information is copyright The Dartington Hall Trust