The plan was to establish a pool of artists- actors, directors, playwrights and designers- who would work together in the creation of plays. Circle Rep became home to some of the most prolific talent in American theater. A distinguished group of actors developed from Circle Repertory Company. By Circle Rep had outgrown its theater and for the first time had to present its work on other stages.
In addition to major productions Circle Rep ran a Projects-in-Progress series. Plays selected for this series received a week of rehearsal and a four-performance run. Several of these plays went on to become major productions the following season.
The literary office was one of the few that read unsolicited scripts and responded with detailed criticism. To the end of developing scripts, the company ran two reading series, Friday Readings and Extended Readings.
For the festival, ten plays with writers ranging from 8 to 18 were chosen for full production or staged readings. Plays were produced at Circle Rep with professional actors. In , Austin Pendleton succeeded her, with actress Lynn Thigpen as associate artistic director. Originating in the Sixties, a time when many experimental theaters arose, this company outlasted virtually all others. They closed their doors in after 27 years. The Circle Repertory records are predominantly a script collection.
Scripts are divided into produced and unproduced. Produced scripts are arranged by season and further divided into major productions, projects-in-progress, and special events. In most cases there are several drafts, which may include annotated and prompt scripts. The collection documents creative output and equally the business of running a theater company. The collection contains a great amount of production material such as prop lists, costume plots, scene breakdowns, stage diagrams, lighting and sound plots, and cues that may be of interest.
