Louise Guthman Interviews

Louise Guthman worked as a lighting and set designer and stage manager for dance and theatre. She toured national and internationally and worked as a lighting designer for the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico on several of their tours. Guthman was an original faculty member of the Department of Dance from its founding. The Louise Guthman Papers include light plots, cue sheets, magic sheets, ground plans, notebooks, scrapbooks, design drawings, VHS videocassettes, audiocassettes, photographs, clippings, correspondence, and administrative documents relating chiefly to Guthman's career as a stage manager and lighting designer. Early productions in which Guthman was involved as set designer are also represented, as are additional professional activities, including review articles she wrote for Dance Observer magazine and portfolios for union exams. The collection also covers Guthman's education and training in costume design, set design, and dance, and her role as one of the founding members of Ohio State University's Department of Dance. Also included are souvenir programs, clippings, photographs, and other memorabilia related to her mentors and colleagues in the theater world, such as Thomas Skelton, Anna Sokolow, Martha Graham, Heinz Poll, Gordon Micunis, and others. The materials date from 1934 to 2008.


Recordings of interviews of Louise Guthman created in 2006-2008 by Nena Couch are stored in University Libraries’ Digital Collections.