Blog
Mary’s Marvels! The Ian Hinchliffe & Jon John Archives
Posted: Monday, July 22nd, 2019
This month’s blog explores the collections of two performance artists – Ian Hinchliffe and Jon John. Stephanie Rolt, Archives Officer at Queen Mary University of London explains the unique set of questions and opportunities encountered whilst working with these performing arts archives. University Archives are fascinating places, full of collections on an eclectic range of topics. […]
Albert Speaks! Capturing 150 Years of Performance
Posted: Tuesday, June 18th, 2019
Our June blog comes from Alex Duthie, Project Officer for the Albert Speaks! Oral History Project at the Royal Albert Hall Archive. Here Alex shares the aims of the project and some of the many memories of performance at the Hall he has captured. In 2017 the Royal Albert Hall Archive launched a unique oral […]
‘SHARING THE MESSEL MAGIC’: The Oliver Messel Archive at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection
Posted: Monday, May 20th, 2019
This month we hear from Gemma Brace, Exhibitions and Engagement Officer, at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection. Gemma describes ‘Sharing the Messel Magic’; a two-year project, which has done more than simply document the life and work of renowned stage designer Oliver Messel. The project has connected this world-class performing arts collection with artists, […]
WESTMINSTER REFERENCE LIBRARY: A PROFUSION OF PERFORMING ARTS RESOURCES
Posted: Thursday, April 25th, 2019
This month’s blog comes from Isaak Lewis-Smith, who describes the plethora of performing arts resources available to access for free remotely and in the heart of London courtesy of APAC member, Westminster Reference Library. It is 6pm on a chilly Thursday evening, and I am at a loose end. I have just finished my day at Westminster […]
“ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE”: Digitising the Archives of Shakespeare’s Globe
Posted: Monday, March 18th, 2019
Our March blog comes from APAC institutional member Adam Matthew Ltd. The academic digital publisher discusses the digitisation of the performance archives of Shakespeare’s Globe. Shakespeare’s Globe is renowned worldwide for the iconic reconstruction of the original Globe Theatre and as a place of radical theatrical experiment. Over the past few years, we here at […]
THEATRE TREASURES: NATIONAL THEATRE ARCHIVE UNBOXED
Posted: Tuesday, February 19th, 2019
In our February blog, Erin Lee, Head of Archive, National Theatre, explains how a new exhibition being staged at the London theatre, is celebrating the 25th birthday of its archive and responses to the treasures held within. In 2019, the National Theatre Archive turns 25. Established in 1994, the Archive aims to document, preserve and […]
Exploring the Value of Programme Collections at the Britten-Pears Foundation
Posted: Thursday, January 17th, 2019
Our first blog for 2019 is inspired by the recent discussions around programme collections on the APAC jiscmail list (www.jiscmail.ac.uk/apac). Dr. Christopher Hilton, Head of Archive and Library, at the Britten-Pears Foundation, explains how programmes, either individually or as a collection, can inform research in a variety of ways. The Britten-Pears Foundation is based at […]
Mikron Theatre Company Archive
Posted: Wednesday, December 19th, 2018
For our December blog we consider theatre with a difference and learn how the archives of a small professional performance company can offer wide ranging research potential, not only in relation to the operational history of the company itself but also in the social history themes and issues that have been the subject of the […]
The Contribution of the Popular Entertainment Sector to the First World War
Posted: Tuesday, November 20th, 2018
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the National Fairground and Circus Archive, at the University of Sheffield, have mounted an exhibition on the role of popular entertainment during the Great War. Arantza Barrutia, Collections Manager, tells us more in this month’s blog… In 1914 escalating political tensions and power […]
The ‘Creative People’ Project: Enhancing the Research Potential of Theatre Collections
Posted: Thursday, October 18th, 2018
This month Jim Ranahan, Archivist at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT), explains how a joint project between the SBT and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), will facilitate access to the professional and personal archives of three significant figures in the 20th century theatre industry. As reported in APAC Newsletter Number 8 (Summer 2018), the newly […]