David Evans, a longstanding and dedicated volunteer at the City of Westminster Archives, is our guest blogger for this post.
An avid London theatre goer for years, David has recently taken up working on programmes within the archives theatre collection again. David has made an invaluable contribution to the archives with his work on various collections during his thirteen years of volunteering. In addition to this, he has written and delivered several historical talks in collaboration with City of Westminster Archives and they can be viewed on their Facebook page.
David can be seen here dating the theatre programmes in preparation for cataloguing. Many of these theatre programmes have been bequeathed to the archives by individual donors. Now over to David to tell us more –
If you are researching London theatre of the 19th or 20th centuries then the City of Westminster Archives Centre could be just the place for you as it has a detailed, marvellous collection of playbills and programmes covering the two centuries mentioned and even some playbills dating from the early to late 18th century. There is also a collection of theatrical postcards covering the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Over the past thirteen years I have, among many other projects and topics, worked on this collection – sometimes simply dating items for cataloguing and sometimes undertaking the cataloguing myself. Now, in early 2022 and after various Covid lockdowns, I am dating programmes again as donations to the archive never cease and I must confess that I am enjoying the experience thoroughly.
The playbills for the two ‘legal’ Royal Charter theatre companies – the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane dominate the 19th century collection but those from other ‘illegal’ theatres such as the Adelphi, Strand are well-represented too. This distinction ended in 1843 and from then on London theatre became even richer in output and quality. Here it should be noted that playbills for Christmas pantomimes at Covent Garden and Drury Lane are extremely detailed and helpful when trying to imagine just how spectacular these super productions were.
Of the 20th century programmes my favourites are those of the Second World War when strict paper rationing meant that as much as possible had to be crammed into four pages. Many carry information about the procedure to follow if an air raid is announced. Even as late as post-war1950, a programme for the Aldwych Theatre states that it has a wide selection of sweets and chocolates but that patrons must not forget to bring their confectionary coupons (known as ‘Personal Points’) with them in order to purchase these. In fact theatres had to deal with this situation from mid-1942 until February, 1953 when sweet rationing ended in the UK.
The above Prince of Wales Theatre programme for the production ‘Strike it Again!’ from 1944 shows a portrait of the actor Sid Field by the artist Dame Laura Knight RA (1877-1970). Dame Laura Knight was well-known during this period for her work inspired by London theatre and ballet. A mixed media artist she worked across mediums including painting, printmaking, etching and aquatint engraving.
The colour cover for ‘Strike it Again!’ is quite notable as colour printing was a real exception at that time when it was only seen in ‘expensive’ magazines like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and the Illustrated London News on rare occasions and, very, very occasionally, in popularly-priced mags like Illustrated. Of course, Fields was a big star and this could be the reason as he was a major attraction.
The above air raid alert notice is taken from the programme for a production of ‘An Ideal Husband’ by Oscar Wilde, performed in 1944.
The postcard collection mainly features female and male stars of the late 19th and early 20th centuries from ‘Gaiety Girls’ to those treading the ‘legitimate’ boards.
The above image is taken from the postcard collection. This hand-tinted sepia photograph features the actress Miss Lillian Burns.
So, if you are researching London theatre of the periods I have mentioned in this piece, don’t hesitate to visit the City of Westminster Westminster Archives Centre, with its very helpful staff, or to check its website. You will not be disappointed.
Many, many thanks to David Evans – not only for this great blog post but also his time volunteering with us. If you’d like to visit or volunteer at the archives, there’s more information on the Westminster Archives webpages.
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