Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

J. Burke Knapp papers, Collection #C0017, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Arena Stage in 2000.

Processing Information

Processed by Special Collections and Archives staff.

Historical Information

Arena Stage was an early leader in the resident theater movement. One of the first not-for-profit theaters in the United States as well as a pioneer of the regional theater movement the Arena Stage was the first regional theater to transfer a production to Broadway, the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour behind the Iron Curtain and the first to receive a Tony Award. Co-founded in 1950 by Edward Mangum a teacher from the George Washington University, and Zelda Fichandler one of his students, Arena Stage was opened in Washington D.C. to fill the void left by the closing of the National Theater in 1948. Deriving it's name from the idea of "theater in the round," Arena Stage became one of the first resident theaters in the United States, beginning with a company of only eight actors. Today, Arena performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theater professionals and craftpersons, who are responsible for all the costumes and scenery seen on stage. Many now- famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Weist, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardly Smith and Samuel L. Jackson.

Mr. J Burke Knapp was an Economist for the Federal Reserve Board, 1940-44; adviser on German economic affairs, U.S. Department of State and German Military Government, 1944-45; special assistant to the chairman, Federal Reserve Board, 1945-48; director, Office of Financial and Development Policy, Department of State, 1948-49; economic adviser U.S. delegation to NATO, 1950-51; U.S. president of the Joint Brazil-U.S. Economic Development Commission, 1951-52; and assistant director, economics department, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1950-52, director, Western Hemisphere department, 1952-56, vice president, IBRD, 1956 and President of the Washington Drama Society.

Scope and Content

Collection containes materials relating to various financial matters of the Arena Stage during the 1960s.

Arrangement

Organized by subject.

Related Material

Special Collections and Archives holds the Arena Stage records.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)

Subjects:

• Theater--Washington (D.C.)

Adjunct Descriptive Data