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Book-It Repertory Theatre records, approximately 1990-2023

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Book-It Repertory Theatre
Title
Book-It Repertory Theatre records
Dates
approximately 1990-2023 (inclusive)
Quantity
21.13 cubic feet (19 boxes, including approximately 84 DVDs, 336 CDs, 2 mini discs, 6 3.5 inch floppy disks, 1 flash drive, 2 videocassettes, 1 sound cassette, and 2 zip disks; and 2 oversize folders)
Collection Number
6510 (Accession No. 6510-001)
Summary
Records of a Seattle-based repertory theatre company
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access for paper-based materials.

No user access copy is available for CDs, DVDs, 3.5 inch floppy disks, flash drive, videocassettes, sound cassettes, minidiscs, or zip disks. Users may be able to obtain a reproduction of the media for a fee. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Languages
English
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Historical Note

The Book-It Repertory Theatre was founded in 1987 by Jane Jones, Tony Pasqualini, Mark Jenkins, Robyn Smith, and Sarah Brooke, among others from an artistic collective in New York City. The collective was formed on Pine Street in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood where they experimented with adapting literature into theatre with the only rules, at that time, being that it must be from a work of literature and there could be no editing or playwriting. Over the next several years, the company would hold free, monthly public performances of short stories in what they called the Book-It Style. In 1990 they incorporated as a performing arts company, a 501(c)3 organization, and established their first board of directors. Book-It members continued to explore and develop techniques for adapting literature and holding in-house performances. During its 1990-1991 season, the theatre had a total of 60 actors and directors and had performed almost 100 short stories.

In 1992, Book-It was invited to tour King County Libraries, which later evolved into Book-It’s Arts Education Program, formalized by Myra Platt in 1996, and developed by then-Education Director Gail Frasier. In 1994, Jane Jones and Myra Platt became Book-It’s first co-artistic directors and remained until early 2020 when Gus Menary took over. In 1995, Book-It established its first theatre location on Westlake Avenue North. The theatre later moved its operations to the Seattle Center House (The Armory), with support from the Corporate Council for the Arts (ArtsFund), Theatre Puget Sound, and Seattle Center. During the 1996-1997 season Book-It achieved several milestones including a popular premiering of an adaption of John Irving’s novel The Cider House Rules, co-directed by Jane and Tom Hulce, at the Seattle Rep. This also began a seven-year tradition of Book-It’s holiday show, Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant, which was adapted from John Irving’s novel A Prayer for Owen Meany. In 1997, Book-It also received the first Stabilization Grant from Don Johnson and the Kreielsheimer Foundation to hire a full-time managing director. Book-It, then, brought to the stage classics like “Jane Eyre,” “Don Quixote” and “Moby Dick,” as well as more recent works, like Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” “The Financial Lives of the Poets” by Jess Walter and “Childfinder” by Octavia E. Butler.

Before March 2020, the theatre served more than 77,000 people annually through the mainstage and education programs. Book-It offered annual subscriptions with 1,300 subscribers, a staff of 17, and an intern program. The Arts Education Program toured curriculum-based stories at Washington schools and libraries and offered long-term residencies schools. In 2023, following three years of pandemic, diminished audience attendance, changes in funder priorities, and a lack of enough major donors, Book-It made the decision to cease operations after 33 years and more than 150 works of literature transformed into full-fledged stage productions.

(Source: "About," Book-It, https://book-it.org/about-3/. Accessed: December 2023; and "Seattle's Book-It Repertory Theatre to close after 33 years," The Seattle Times; Accessed: December 2023, https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/theater/seattles-book-it-repertory-theatre-to-close-after-33-years/)

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Content Description

Scripts, production files, sketches, marketing and promotional materials, clippings, photographs, correspondence, programs, posters, media, administrative files, reports, educational materials, and audio and video recordings related to the Book-It Repertory Theatre.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

To the extent that they own the copyright, the donor has transferred the copyright of the materials to the University of Washington; however, copyright in some items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. Users are responsible for researching copyright status before use.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in 3 series.

  • Series 1, Production Management
  • Series 2, Administrative Documents
  • Series 3, Book-It All Over Program

Acquisition Information

Donated by Christopher J. Murma, 2023

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 


2024 (Last modified: 4/19/2024)

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