Doug Cooney Papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS-236

Scope and Content Note

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The Doug Cooney Papers, 1999-2005, contain play and book typescript drafts with revisions; final typescripts; musical scores; rehearsal notebooks; a stage manager's promptbook; research articles and notes; press kits; promotional fliers; letters from children; programs; study guides; editors' notes; a bound galley; book jacket proofs; correspondence; newspaper reviews; video and sound recordings; posters; an appreciation plaque; and a rendering. The collection consists of development and production materials for plays written by Doug Cooney for young audiences and a few for adults; collaborative education projects; and drafts and publicity for young adult novels. The papers are divided into the following series: Plays (Box 1-3), Projects (Box 3), Books (Box 3), and Ephemera (Box 4).

Series I: Plays (1999-2005) consists of typescript drafts with revisions; final typescripts; rehearsal notebooks containing notes, reports, schedules and contact sheets; musical scores; CDs; posters; and other associated production materials for plays written by Doug Cooney for young audiences, most notably The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip and The Legend of Alex. Additionally, there are drafts of plays written for adults, most notably The Final Tour and the performance piece Land O'Leisure. The arrangement is alphabetical by title first for plays for young audiences, then by plays for adults.

Series II: Projects (2005) contains an educational kit, stage manager's promptbook, correspondence and VHS video recordings. The series provides information on the education programs and an exhibit, which Cooney collaborated on with the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and during his residency with Florida Stage, where after six weeks in Palm Beach County high schools he created the play Graffiti Project that would later receive a professional staged reading. The arrangement is chronological.

Series III: Books (2004-2005) consists of typescript drafts, some with revisions; editors' notes; a bound galley; book jacket proofs; correspondence; and audio cassette tapes regarding Doug Cooney's young adult fiction books, The Beloved Dearly, Nobody's Perfect co-written with actress Marlee Matlin, and I Know Who Likes You. The arrangement is chronological.

Series IV: Ephemera contains a 1994 appreciation plaque from Very Special Arts Florida for The Wind That Blew and a rendering, subject unknown.

Dates

Creation: 1999-2005

Creator

Cooney, Doug (Person)

Language of Materials

Material in English

Access Restrictions

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

Arizona State University does not own the copyright to this collection. We recognize that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.

Biographical Note

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Doug Cooney, a playwright for both adult and young audiences, television and screen writer, community-based educator, performance artist and novelist for young adults, attended the University of Virginia, the University of Florida and Rhode Island College, where he participated in the playwriting program at the Trinity Repertory Company's Conservatory and received a Master of Arts in 1995.

Cooney's plays have been produced internationally at venues which include: New York City's Lincoln Center Institute with director Elizabeth Swados; Center Theatre Group's P.L.A.Y. (Performing for Los Angeles Youth); the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC; the Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; the Cleveland Playhouse; the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; and the International Very Special Arts Festival. His play for adults, The Final Tour, was selected for play development with director Moises Kaufmann at the Sundance Theatre Lab in 2003. The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip was developed at the Kennedy Center's New Visions/New Voices and at the University of Texas at Austin.

As a community-based artist, he conducts workshops and creates plays for education outreach programs which include: Voices Within for the Master Chorale of Los Angeles; the violence prevention play, Peace Signs, for the Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre Program; and The Graffiti Project for Florida Stage. Cooney has written screenplays for SONY Pictures and television scripts for the Disney, Nickelodeon and the Discovery Channels. His published novels for children include: Hugo & Fritz; The Beloved Dearly, which was adapted into a children's play; I Know Who Likes You; Nobody's Perfect; and Leading Ladies.

His work has been funded through grants, commissions and fellowships from: the National Endowment for the Arts; the MacDowell Colony; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; the Lila Wallace Readers Digest Fund; A.S.K. Theatre Projects; and the Ruth Simon Foundation. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Writers Guild of America, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and Alternate ROOTS.

Cooney is based in Los Angeles, California.

Full extent

4 Box(es)

Full extent

6 Linear Feet

Additional description

Abstract

The Doug Cooney Papers, 6 linear feet, contain the records of Doug Cooney, a playwright for young audiences and adults, author, and performance artist, from 1999 through 2005. The collection consists of development and production materials for plays written by Cooney for young audiences and a few for adults; collaborative education projects; and drafts and publicity for young adult novels written by Cooney. The papers are divided into the following series: Plays, Projects, Books and Ephemera.

Arrangement

This collection consists of six boxes divided into four series:

Series I: Plays
Series II: Projects
Series III: Books
Series IV: Ephemera

Provenance

The Doug Cooney Papers were received from Doug Cooney from 2004 through 2006 as recorded in accession numbers 2004-03270 and 2006-03992; ongoing.

Related Materials

Cooney's Master of Arts final project, Dancing Like My Father. Child Drama Collection: CT-1944.

Processing Note

This collection was processed as part of a NHPRC Archives-Basic Projects-Basic Processing grant, which limits processing to the series and subseries level when needed and does not allow the creation of file or folder listings. The collection was processed by Anna Uremovich, NHPRC Project Archivist, Child Drama Collection, processed June 2009.