The Dramatic Workshop was established by German dramatist Erwin Piscator and his wife, Maria Ley, in 1939. It remained at the New School into 1949, and afterward operated independently until 1951, when Piscator's application for U.S. citizenship was denied and he returned to Germany. The Studio Theatre, the Dramatic Workshop's repertory company, mounted some 450 works in its twelve years of existence. Noted students include Bea Arthur, Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau, Rod Steiger, Elaine Stritch, and Tennessee Williams. Noted teachers include Stella Adler, Herbert Berghof, Harold Clurman, Hans Eisler, John Gassner, Mordecai Gorlik, Theresa Helpern, Sidney Kaufman, Lee Strasberg, and Paul Zucker.

A 1946 Publicity Office report indicates that the department "does little of the publicity for the Dramatic Workshop but is supposed to supervise the material sent to the press." The materials in this series were variously produced by the Publicity Office and Dramatic Workshop staff. Some materials, especially many of the photographs, are reproductions of earlier prints and were probably gathered from outside individuals and repositories and added to these records by New School Library staff. Correspondence here includes a 1949 letter from New School president Bryn Hovde formally announcing the severance of ties between the New School and the Dramatic Workshop. Course catalogs for the Dramatic Workshop are available online here: http://digitalarchives.library.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/collections/NS050101.03.