Blog
Digitising the Gate Theatre Archive
Posted: Wednesday, September 20th, 2017
In February 2016 the James Hardiman Library at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway, commenced a project to digitise the significant archives of Dublin’s famous Gate Theatre. In this month’s blog post, archivist Barry Houlihan and digitisation archivists Conor Dent and Nicola Gray take us through the process and explain how the archives will […]
25 Objects for 25 Years at Kingston University Archives and Special Collections
Posted: Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017
This month archivist Katie Giles describes how user engagement inspired new ways of thinking about objects in Kingston University’s Archives and Special Collections, and how they contributed to the University’s anniversary celebrations. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of Kingston University receiving university status, and in the Archives and Special Collections we wanted to celebrate […]
When is a “man playing a bugle” not a man playing a bugle?
Posted: Wednesday, July 19th, 2017
Philip Milnes-Smith is a trainee Archives Assistant at Shakespeare’s Globe and this month he shares with us his experience of problem-solving around the digitisation of illustrations documenting the reconstruction of the Globe Theatre – a project initiated by the American actor, director and producer Sam Wanamaker. Although it is twenty years this year since the […]
David Garrick: 300 years young!
Posted: Thursday, June 15th, 2017
This month Carmen Holdsworth-Delgado, Curator of the Garrick Club, introduces some highlights of the collection which were used to create a small display for the members of the Club on the tercentenary of David Garrick’s birth. February marked the 300th anniversary of the birth of David Garrick, Britain’s greatest actor, manager, playwright and entrepreneur. Throughout […]
Definitely Red!
Posted: Friday, May 12th, 2017
Fiona Gell, Cataloguing Assistant, tells us about her experience of cataloguing the Red Ladder Theatre Archive, held in Special Collections at the University of Leeds. In 2016 Special Collections and Red Ladder Theatre Company were announced as the winners of The Business Archives Council cataloguing grant for business archives related to the Arts. I was […]
The National Resource Centre for Dance at 35
Posted: Wednesday, April 5th, 2017
The National Resource Centre for Dance at the University of Surrey marks it 35 year anniversary this year. To celebrate, Emma Hallett, Archivist (Public Services), tells us about the collections it holds and its work to protect and promote the legacies of dancers, dance, and the performing arts. A (Very) Brief History… The NRCD was founded […]
Mystery Item in the Archive
Posted: Monday, March 13th, 2017
This month, Erin Lee, Archivist at the National Theatre (NT), introduces us to a mystery object given to the NT’s archive and how the team had some help to identify its use. Around 6 months ago, I received an email from the National Theatre’s (NT) Lighting department saying that they had found an old box […]
Reproducing Fame: Printmakers and the Nineteenth Century Stage at the National Portrait Gallery
Posted: Wednesday, February 8th, 2017
This month, we look to stage ephemera with Tessa Kilgarriff, who is completing an AHRC-funded collaborative doctoral award at the University of Bristol and the National Portrait Gallery. Alongside her research she has curated Reproducing Fame: Printmakers and the Nineteenth Century Stage which is on show at the National Portrait Gallery until July 2 2017. In 2015 […]
Mercury Voices
Posted: Thursday, January 12th, 2017
Looking to the year ahead, Steve Mannix, Executive Director of Colchester’s Mercury Theatre, explains the importance of Mercury Voices for remembering and being inspired by the past. I know for many professional archivists this short piece highlights something that happens every day but for us at the Mercury it’s reminded us of why we have […]
Marking 1616: A Momentous Year – Shakespeare’s Globe Library & Archive
Posted: Wednesday, December 14th, 2016
As 2016 draws to a close, Jacqui Grainger (Librarian) and Victoria Lane (Archivist) reflect on a momentous year at Shakespeare’s Globe. This year at The Globe has been momentous, as the epic theatrical adventure of taking Hamlet to every country on earth, built to a crescendo in early May. This was, of course, in celebration […]