William Gaskill, additional papers principally related to his period at the Royal Court Theatre, 1965-1972

This material is held atUniversity of Leeds Special Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 206 BC MS 20c Theatre, Gaskill/1
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1958 - 2010
  • Physical Description
    • 14 boxes manuscript papers; typescript papers; slides; photographs; photocopies; notebooks; artwork; newspaper cuttings, USB

Scope and Content

This series is a separate accrual received in September 2016. It includes correspondence, scripts and many notebooks which contain sketches and items which have been pasted in.

Box 1: contains papers regarding Gaskill's book 'A Sense of Direction'; papers relating to Gaskill's production of Marivaux's 'Infidelities'; photographs of 'Pericles'; miscellaneous papers.

Box 2: contains papers regarding Bulgakov's 'Black Snow' and Pirandello's 'The Mountain Giants'; papers relating to RADA including 'Rookery Nook' by Ben Travers; letters to and from writers and actors including Peter Hall and Arnold Wesker; script of 'The Schoolmistress'; excerpts from various texts; miscellaneous papers.

Box 3: contains newspaper cuttings relating to the arts; cuttings and papers relating to Gaskill's health; contracts including ones with The Royal Court Theatre and RADA; papers relating to Gaskill's production 'Carver'; papers outlining Nicholas Wright's techniques; papers relating to Philip Robert's writing on the 'Joint Stock Theatre Company'.

Box 4: contains letters and emails including one from Greville Poke; papers relating to the BBC; various papers including a statement to the police about 'Saved'; transcripts of interviews with Gaskill.

Box 5: contains some of Gaskill's notebooks labelled 'Comedy Class 1962' and '1970 class notes'; photographs of his productions; script of 'Great Theatre of the World' by Calderón de la Barca.

Box 6: contains one of Gaskill's notebooks with notes on 'Twelfth Night' and 'The Trojan Women'; slides of 'The Trojan Women'; annotated script of D. H. Lawrence's 'You Touched Me'; annotated script of John Reilly's 'A Time for John'; Shakespeare's 'Coriolanus'.

Box 7: contains annotated script of 'The Crimes of Vautrin' by Nicholas Wright; notebook containing notes on various plays 2001-2004; notebook for plays including 'Pericles' and 'Hamlet'; two notebooks containing sketches and paintings; letters to and from Colette.

Box 8: comprises notebooks containing notes on various plays including 'Early Morning' by Edward Bond and Faustus' by Christopher Marlowe. notebook containing visual ideas for 'Macbeth' and 'Zeami/Yeats'; copy of 'A Sense of Direction' by William Gaskill in Italian.

Box 9: comprises notebooks containing notes on various plays including 'Jungle of the Cities' by Bertolt Brecht and 'Sirens' Gaskill's adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses; copy of 'Jeppe På Bjerget' by Ludvig Holberg in Norwegian; three copies of the script of 'The Bequest' or 'The Legacy' by Marivaux.

Box 10: contains good luck card from 'Tim and Jot' 1960; annotated script of 'Hamlet'; annotated script of 'Julius Caesar'; script of 'Hamlet' with note on front cover 'cuts version'; script of 'Sirens. Alla fuga. An episode of 'Ulysses' by James Joyce. Directed and adapted by William Gaskill', which also includes the annotated text from 'Ulysses'.

Box 11: contains annotated script of 'Carver. Five stories by Raymond Carver adapted for the stage by William Gaskill'; script of 'Othello' with note on front cover 'cuts for Tfana, New York'; script of 'The Diary Plays' of Franz Kafka; script of 'Mother Courage' with note on the front cover 'comments to the text'; annotated script of Calderón de la Barca's 'El Gran Theatro del Mundo'; script of 'Cathy and Heathcliff. Some scenes from Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights adapted by William Gaskill'; copy of 'The Stage Review. Shakespeare's Globe. 22 September 1995'; stage plans.

Box 12: contains notebooks including notes on productions 'Don't Fool with Love' by Alfred de Musset and 'La Bohème' by Welsh National Opera; one notebook with notes on a seminar in Heidelberg; annotated script of 'Saved' by Edward Bond.

Box 13: contains notebooks with notes and some artwork relating to various productions including 'The Way of the World' by William Congreve, 'Othello' and 'Macbeth'; notebook with note on cover 'classes/studio 1962. Royal Court writers'.

Box 14: contains three sketchbooks; a notebook from the 'Dubrovnik Festival'; a notebook with notes on various plays including 'Spring Awakening' by Frank Wedekind.

Access Information

Access to this part of the collection is restricted under the Data Protection Act. You will need to complete a restricted access form and return it to Special Collections for review by staff before access can be granted.

Acquisition Information

Bequest from William Gaskill, 2016.

Conditions Governing Use

Material in this part of the collection is in copyright. Photocopies or digital images can be supplied by the Library for research or private study. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain the copyright holder's permission to reproduce for any other purpose. Guidance is available for tracing copyright status and ownership.