Robert S. Breen papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
George Mason University
2400 Fenwick Library
Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library MS2FL
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Mieko Palazzo
Phone: (703) 993-2220
Fax: (703) 993-2669

Summary

Extent:
67.5 linear feet (139 boxes)
Creator:
Robert S. Breen
Abstract:
The papers are comprised of records generated by Robert Breen and his wife Wilva Breen. The collection documents Robert Breen's work in the theater as an actor, director, and producer. The bulk of the collection relates to Breen's work as Executive Director for the American National Theater and Academy.
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

The Robert Breen Theatre Collection is a primary source from which one may research the early beginnings of government support for the performing arts and the people responsible for them. It details the work of Robert Breen, the driving force behind the reformation of ANTA in 1946 and a staunch supporter of its eventual successor, the National Endowment for the Arts. The Robert Breen Theatre Collection aids in the gaining of a better understanding of the early operations of ANTA. Covering the years 1933-1980, it consists of working papers, correspondence, drafts, news clippings, scripts, photographs and other theatrical materials which document Breen's career with ANTA from 1944 to 1952. There are also almost 70 audiotapes with recordings of musical theatre and Breen dictating correspondence. The collection also reflects Breen's personal interests such as television, film, and political causes.

Biographical / historical:

In the early 1930s, a small group of arts patrons from Philadelphia and New York began to act upon their conviction that Americans should have a national theater organization that would serve the American public better than Broadway, with its high ticket prices and limited touring policy. Under the leadership of Leopold Stokowski, and with the help of several influential supporters, they persuaded Congress to enact a federal charter for a national theater - a rare and significant authorization but for very few organizations such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Red Cross, and the Federal Reserve Bank. Signed by Franklin Roosevelt on July 3, 1935, the charter of The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) called for: A people's project, organized and conducted in their interest, free from commercialism, but with the firm intent of being as far as possible self-supporting. A national theatre should bring to the people throughout the country their heritage of the great drama of the past and the best of the present, which has been too frequently unavailable to them under existing conditions. Action on the new charter stalled for nearly a decade, however, with the creation of the WPA Federal Theatre Project, which provided Depression relief to theater artists from 1935 until 1939, and then the onset of World War II. Perhaps more to the point, the ANTA board, comprised of prominent citizens and business leaders from outside the theater community, could not agree on the goals of ANTA.

When the war ended, Robert Breen, a dynamic theater director, actor, and producer fresh out of the Army Air Corps, saw in ANTA the opportunity for his vision of a national theater. He persuaded a fellow veteran, Robert Porterfield, founder of the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, to join him in his effort to devise and propose to the ANTA board a plan for a national theater supported by a foundation.

In 1946 the ANTA board voted to accept the Breen-Porterfield Foundation Plan and persuaded Robert Breen to serve as executive secretary of ANTA. To provide the organization with necessary expertise, the board was reconstituted to include prestigious theater professionals such as Brooks Atkinson, Cheryl Crawford, Paul Green, Moss Hart, Helen Hayes, Sam Jaffe, and Raymond Massey.

Robert Breen and a small, dedicated team comprised mostly of volunteers set furiously to work in his own living quarters above the Hudson Theater on 44th Street. At his side was his co-worker and wife Wilva Davis Breen, who had been instrumental in promoting and guiding the ANTA plan to completion. Together, the two of them had established the Chicago unit of the Federal Theatre Project, an experience which convinced Breen that theater in America was in need of more than a temporary relief program.

Thus began a remarkable period in American theater that, with the infusion of ANTA support and energy, saw the revival of the Experimental Theatre in New York, the growth of regional and university theater programs, the encouragement of playwrights and performers, the broadcasting of quality dramatic presentations to millions of Americans on television in its fledgling years, and ground breaking cultural exchanges that warmed a Cold War world. Internationally, ANTA promoted artistic exchanges between the U.S. and Europe and entertainment for American troops serving abroad. It began in 1949 with a U.S. tour of Hamlet throughout Europe, culminating in a performance at Elsinore Castle in Denmark, the actual setting of the play. During the 1950s ANTA sponsored such projects as the American National Ballet Theatre's tour of Europe, and American participation in the Berlin Arts Festival in 1951. Productions showing different sides of life in America were played to European audiences. Among the many were the musicals Oklahoma and Porgy and Bess.

Acquisition information:

Donated by the trustees of the Robert Breen Collection in 1988 and Wilva Breen and Ohio State University in 1989.

Additional donations from Diana Lawrence and Mike Timoney in 2010.

Arrangement:

Organized alphabetically according to subject and topic.

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Theater--United States.