RIAMCO

Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online

For Participating Institutions

Blackfriars Guild Collection (rppc_bfgc)

Providence College

Archives and Special Collections
1 Cunningham Square
Providence, RI 02918
Tel: 401-865-2578
Fax: 401-865-1578
Email: pcarchives@providence.edu
Website: https://pml.providence.edu/

Scope & content

The Blackfriars Guild Collection documents the tenure of Blackfriars as a viable and prolific off-Broadway theatre during the mid-twentieth century. Correspondence, legal articles, news clippings, photographs, and publications, detail the inception and development of the New York chapter. These materials reveal how the organization was established and directed, in addition to showing the favorable reception it received from the public.

Also included within this collection are the applications of actors, copies of the scripts, photographs of the cast and performances, play bills, reviews, memorabilia, and scrapbooks created for many of the productions. Films, tapes, and transcripts give additional insight into the performances themselves and the history of the corporation.

Furthermore, this collection contains the correspondence of Father Thomas Carey, one of the founders and primary manager of Blackfriars Theatre in New York. Photographs, publications, and news clippings provide further information on the man who was a driving force behind the creation and operation of the theatre.