The records of the Ann Arbor Dramatic Arts Center were accumulated and maintained by DAC secretary and president Professor Wilfred Kaplan. The records cover the period 1954 to 1966, are arranged in five series: Background, Administrative, Activities, Production, and Scrapbooks. The records, consisting of correspondence, memoranda, and other files, detail the formation of the Dramatic Arts Centers, its activities, its planning for a theater in Ann Arbor, and its eventual demise.
The Ann Arbor Dramatic Arts Center (DAC) was created in May 1954 as a nonprofit corporation to "operate a Center for dramatic and other arts, a professional theater, theater and dance classes for the children, and a place for exhibit of works of art" (Box 1, Background folder). Its purpose was to encourage an interest and participation, in Ann Arbor and its community, in the arts, and to provide facilities for such a development.
Many of the essential components of the DAC had already been proposed by the Arts Theater Club. Launched around 1950, its goal was the production of plays in a small arena theater in Ann Arbor. The plays they performed were varied and drew good audiences, but the project ultimately failed due apparently to bad management.
From 1954 to 1957 the DAC maintained a professional arena theater in Ann Arbor, under the directorship of Joseph Gistirack. During each of these seasons of approximately twenty-five weeks, the DAC presented many plays of enduring value, among which stand out "The Moon in the Yellow River," "A Sleep of Prisoners," "Topaze," "Pygmalion," "The Confidential Clerk," and "The Importance of Being Earnest."
In 1957 the professional theater was suspended partly because the lease for the theater space in the Old Masonic Temple on Fourth Avenue could not be extended, and partly because of doubts about the ability of local sponsors to take care of the recurring deficit.
The organizational structure was maintained and the board of directors continued to meet on a monthly basis, with an executive committee conducting affairs between meetings. The DAC presented, with considerable success, several childrens plays through Junior Theater, and a program of Saturday classes for children in art, dance, and theater, was established with the collaboration of the public schools. These classes, too, enjoyed great popularity. There were several programs in music and dance, both of which were important ingredients in the dramatic performances.
Interest in the theater, dance, and arts continued to grow steadily in Ann Arbor, as evidenced by the success of productions of the Drama Season and the University of Michigan Speech Department, those of the Civic Theater, and programs sponsored by the Ann Arbor Civic Ballet. In view of this, the DAC launched an ambitious project to bring a repertory theater to Ann Arbor, similar to the one established in Stratford, Ontario. Contacts were made and in September of 1958, the DAC was approached by Oliver Rea, a theater promoter from New York. Mr. Rea was working with Tyrone Guthrie, then considered by many to be the leading director in the English-speaking theater and first artistic director of the Stratford Festival. Dr. Guthrie wished to found a similar project in an American city and had heard of interest in Ann Arbor.
The DAC took upon itself the organization of a support group to bring Guthrie's theater to Ann Arbor. Both Mr. Rea and Dr. Guthrie visited Ann Arbor in October 1959 as guests of the DAC. Dr. Guthrie gave a forceful presentation about his plans but the reception from University officials was cool. By the time the initial reluctance was overcome and a firm interest was shown, it was too late. Minneapolis was chosen to house Dr. Guthrie's theater.
The DAC continued with its activities, promoting and presenting plays to the Ann Arbor community until its dissolution in 1967.
