Blackfriars Guild Corporation

The Blackfriars Guild collection details the American Catholic theatre movement from the 1940s into the early 1970s. The Catholic Church in the United States traditionally discouraged its clergy and laity from attending or participating in theatre during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Believed to have corrupting influences, theatre was seen to be irreconcilable with religion. However, with a growing concern for the spiritual welfare of those involved in this art, coupled with a public demand for plays of virtue, the Catholic Actors Guild (1914) and the Catholic Dramatic Movement (1922) were established to repair the rift between faith and theatre. These movements were the forerunners of the Blackfriars Guild.

In 1931, two Dominicans, Father Urban Nagle, O.P., and Brother Fabian Carey, O.P, decided to found their own Catholic theatre, reviving the name of the sixteenth century private theatres in London. The group was based at Catholic University where the two men were studying, but the organization would eventually extend to twenty-two chapters across the country. However, it was the New York City branch, under the direction of Nagle and Carey that was the most widely acclaimed and celebrated theatre of the guild. As a viable off-Broadway theatre, it provided actors, playwrights, and directors both valuable experience and publicity. Moreover, Blackfriars produced original works which were spiritually and intellectually challenging. Although Blackfriars Theatre closed in 1972, the experiment showed that theatre and religion were not mutually exclusive.

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