HOLLYWOOD, TALIESIN, AND STAGE

Condylis, Paul (1931–2020) ; Playwright and Radio Broadcaster

ARCHIVE: The Hungarian Puppeteer A One-act Play [With Accompanying 1992 ALS, 2013 TLS, and 2005 Holiday Audio CD Archive] [The Taliesin Fellowship & Honi Coles Association Archive]

DESCRIPTION: Chicago and Hollywood: Privately Produced, 1992–2013. Stapled sheets, typed letters, and housed disc media. 

This cohesive, multi-decade archive documents the creative evolution of ABC Radio broadcaster Paul Condylis's theatrical play, 'The Hungarian Puppeteer', directly linking his work to the puppetry legacy of the Taliesin Fellowship and tap icon Charles 'Honi' Coles.
 
Spanning from a 1992 handwritten letter mourning Coles's passing to the finalized 2013 inscribed production script, this ensemble was preserved by Patricia 'Pat' Percy and Betty Puttnam, prominent mid-century figures who trained under Frank and Olgivanna Lloyd Wright. The archive contains the original primary source recordings and the subsequent dramatic adaptation, presenting a rich, multi-layered research lot for American architectural, broadcast, and theatrical history.

KEY FEATURES 
+++ Visuals: Includes a custom color-printed square holiday card insert featuring seasonal graphics and promotional text detailing the audio production. 
+++ Binding: Script comprises 22 one-sided, white typed pages firmly secured with a single heavy-duty staple at the upper left margin. 
+++ Content: Features a complete dramatic rehearsal text for three actors, structured into a prelude and full performance movements based on Condylis's mid-1960s Hollywood interview with an immigrant puppeteer. 
+++ Imprint: Script features a bold, typed lower colophon reading 'Revised June 15, 2013' with the author's private Chicago residence details. 
+++ Specs: Script pages measure 8.5 x 11.0 inches; letters match standard stationery dimensions; the CD mailer envelope retains its original postage stamp and circular cancel mark.

THE RULE OF DISTINCTION
+++ Transcription Anchor: The title page of the script features a fluid, hand-inked inscription at the lower left quadrant: 'For Pat and Betty Percy / much love, / Paul'. 
+++ Associated Material: The script is accompanied by an exceptional 1992 autograph letter signed (ALS) from Condylis to Pat and Betty, explicitly discussing a fund-raising broadcast featuring 'Honi' Coles and notes on 'Honi's funeral', anchoring the timeline of their shared creative network.

CONDITION: Very Good. 
+++ The internal leaves of the script are exceptionally bright, crisp, and clean, free from marginalia, highlighting, or dog-eared corners, showing only very faint handling creases to the exterior cover sheet. 
+++ The two accompanying letters remain flat, clean, and neatly preserved, with one with original horizontal fold lines intact from mailing. 
+++The audio CD and its accompanying stiff cardboard mailer show light exterior scuffing and handling soil consistent with postal transit, with the printed labels remaining fully vibrant and legible.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE —
Paul George Condylis achieved prominence within the golden era of mid-century entertainment, particularly noted for his writing and broadcasting work with ABC Radio in Hollywood. Throughout the 1960s, his program interviewed compelling, unheralded cultural figures who arrived in America following European displacement, providing the raw material for his later dramatic work.

This archive tracks the multi-decade trajectory of his play, 'The Hungarian Puppeteer', which Condylis explicitly dedicated to Patricia 'Pat' Percy and Betty Puttnam. Both women were prominent mid-century figures within the Taliesin Fellowship, having worked directly under Frank and Olgivanna Lloyd Wright. At Taliesin, they participated in the landmark Festivals of Music and Dance, establishing a sophisticated approach to puppet theater that heavily influenced Condylis's own creative development.

The inclusion of the 1992 letter—written mere weeks after tap icon Charles 'Honi' Coles passed away—establishes a powerful, real-time historical link showing how this elite circle of theatrical and architectural veterans processed Coles's legacy. The presence of the 2005 holiday audio CD, containing the raw true story and a special 'Holiday Surprise Guest' performance, supplies the primary audio framework that validates the entire evolution of the text.

SCHOLARLY FEATURES 
+++ Design: An excellent example of a privately maintained authorial archive, transitioning from raw broadcast source materials to a structured, desktop-published theatrical play script. 
+++ Scholarship: Serves as a vital primary record of Paul Condylis’s post-broadcasting career, capturing how real-world interviews from his 1960s ABC Radio program in Hollywood were transformed into mid-century immigrant narratives decades later. 
+++ Influence: Integrates seamlessly into the history of American puppetry, twentieth-century radio drama, and the immediate memorialization circles surrounding tap master Charles 'Honi' Coles following his death in late 1992.

SUBJECTS: Paul Condylis, Charles 'Honi' Coles, Pat Percy, Betty Puttnam, Taliesin Fellowship, Frank Lloyd Wright, Puppetry, ABC Radio Hollywood, Immigrant Narratives, American Theater, Audio Archives. 
GENRES: Play Scripts, Association Copy, Original Correspondence, Multimedia Archive.

Item #22072

Price: $245.00