Russell, Annie: Outline of the History of the Drama

This collection is not personal papers of Annie Russell, but materials collected from the Annie Russell Theatre programs of Rollins College since 1932. The subject matter documented in this collection is organized by seasons at the Annie Russell Theatre, with five to six plays in each season on average.

Born in 1864 in Liverpool, England, Annie Russell had the “perfect ingénue” for a leading actress. By the age of 19 she had became a household name on British stage. After moving to the United States in the late nineteenth century, she jump-started her acting career in New York and experienced a period of great creative success in her life, playing in a number of new plays despite of her deteriorating health. After her retirement in 1918 and relocation to Winter Park in 1923, she became involved in the nascent dramatic arts program at Rollins, following the advice from her good friend Mary Curtis Bok Zimbalist. The collaboration of these two powerful friends laid the spiritual foundation of the current theater program and the literal foundation of one of the most beautiful architectural structures in Central Florida, the Annie Russell Theatre. Designed by the German-born architect Richard Kiehnel in the Italian Romanesque Revival style, the theatre was built and named after Annie Russell in 1932. After briefly appearing on the stage of the new theatre, Annie Russell died of lung disease in 1936. However, the Annie Russell Theatre continues to serve the vision and aspiration shared by Annie Russell and her friend Mary Curtis Bok Zimbalist: collaboration, creativity, education, and discipline.