Playbills Past: CSUN Theatre through the years

by Emily Gomez, undergraduate Theatre major, Student Assistant in the University Library Digital Services Lab - April 14, 2026

The University Archives and University Archives Photograph Collection contain photos and programs from the CSUN Theatre Department and its Teenage Drama Workshop (TADW) d Promotional flyer for the 5th year of the Teenage Drama Workshop, ca. 1962 ating as far back as 1958 when the Teenage Drama Workshop was established (even predating the Theatre Department!). Then, CSUN was still known as San Fernando Valley State College. Enrolled teens spend the summer season participating in a range of classes including acting, improvisation, and movement, which culminate in multiple stage productions. Both then and now, the Teenage Drama Workshop and the Theatre Department work together to onboard Theatre majors and alumni to run the shows through assistant direction, stage management, choreography, and more, making it a tight-knit, multi-generational theatre community.

While the Workshop has been hosting its lessons and shows in Nordhoff Hall for most of its life, the first TADW season was held in a tent. The following two seasons saw students set up shop in the Art Department. Then, in the fourth year, students rehearsed in barns at the former horse racing and event space Devonshire Downs (now occupied by Medtronic on Devonshire and Zelzah). Nordhoff Hall (formerly the “Speech Drama Building”) completed construction in 1961, and TADW has operated in its classrooms and theatres ever since.

Having been around for over 70 years, the same stories are retold by different generations of students. This summer, TADW is mounting a production of the Wizard of Oz for its 70th summer season. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Program for TADW's 25th annual season Students of the 25th and 45th season similarly took on the roles of Dorothy and her friends. Older program designs have a storybook feel, appearing hand-drawn.

As for the Theatre Department, the archives hold programs, printed images, and 35mm color film photos of productions. For the 1966 production of Luther, the department hosted a lecture series diving into all aspects of the play. Lecture spotlights include Drama professor and TADW founder Dr. William Schlosser analyzing the play’s hero, and a psychoanalysis of the character by Methodist minister and professor of Christian education Dr. Allen Moore. The Department promoted the show to the local Lutheran community. In a letter to the Lutheran Women’s Campus Association they promoted a collaboration with the Lutheran Campus Ministry, increasing the ticket price of $1.50 to $2.50 to benefit the Ministry. Although it sounds dirt cheap, comparatively tickets have pretty much stayed the same price with inflation, with $2.50 coming out to about $23 in today’s money.

In 1976, CSUN cast actor Jon Voight in the role of Hamlet, most known at the time for his breakthrough role in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. The goal was to cast a professional actor to serve as a guest artist for students, actively teaching them through direct experience onstage. A similar approach was taken with the 1974 production of House of Bernarda Alba, last performed at CSUN in 2024. Actress and professor emeritus Helen Backlin played the titular role of the commanding matriarch, with students playing her five daughters. The two groups of women in the photograph below suggests that the play was double cast, allowing more students to gain onstage experience.

The photos featured in this post are just a few of the Theatre programs and photographs that the University Archives has in its collections–I encourage you to dig deeper into the archives! Also see more like it live and in living color by supporting TADW students in The Wizard of Oz this summer, and CSUN students in The Addams Family this month!