WASHINGTON AREA PERFORMING ARTS
VIDEO ARCHIVE

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, WAPAVA is a resource for theater professionals and scholars, students and educational programs, specialized researchers in local and national theater history, and the general public.

Having secured permission from Actors’ Equity Association to tape professional stage performances in Washington, DC, WAPAVA was founded by stage manager and video archivist James Taylor in 1993 to preserve live theater performances.

In 2004, WAPAVA entered into an agreement with the DC Public Library and the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library at the University of Maryland to donate, assign, and permanently transfer the archive to MSPAL and to maintain a duplicate copy of the archive at DCPL. 

Since 1993, WAPAVA has produced over 850 professional video recordings, representing a cross-section of DC-area theaters, from large and established to small and emerging. Productions are chosen for their historical and educational value.

Prior to Taylor’s death in 2005, the archive was renamed the James J. Taylor Collection in his honor.