archive – unrestricted theatre

May 21, 2022May 23, 2022

NT talks about design

The National Theatre have been running on Instagram a very interesting weekly series of discussions about the design process and the experience of designing for the National Theatre, and giving audiences the chance to ask their own questions.

Each week a different designer talked about one of their show designs, and each week they featured a different design specialism including costume, set, lighting, puppetry, graphics and sound.

Although the NT’s Instagram Live Design Series has now finished, you can browse the archive for talks on the following:

Vicki Mortimer and Sarah Mercer on Follies Costume Designs
Jessica Hung Han Yun and Jack Williams on the Dick Whittington Lighting Design
Katrina Lindsay and Tariq Rifaat on the Small Island Set Design
Sam Wyer on the Ocean at the End of the Lane Puppetry Design
Rae Smith and Toby Olié on the War Horse Set Design
Bunny Christie and Anthony Newton on the After Life Set Design
Donato Wharton, Edward-Rhys Harry and Marc Tritschler on the Under Milk Wood Sound Design
Louise Richardson on the Under Milk Wood Graphic Design
Toby Olié and Audrey Brisson on the Pinnochio Puppetry Design

Find the IGTV Archive here

April 15, 2022April 21, 2022

Desert Island Discs’ theatrical outings

For those who have never heard it, the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs invites famous or celebrated people of their to day to imagine themselves as desert island castaways . They are able to choose eight pieces of music, a book (in addition to the Bible – or a religious text appropriate to that person’s beliefs – and the Complete Works of Shakespeare) and a luxury item that they would take to an imaginary desert island, where they will be marooned indefinitely. The rules state that the chosen luxury item must not be anything animate or indeed anything that enables the castaway to escape from the island, for instance a radio set, sailing yacht or aeroplane.

Over the programme’s astonishing 80-year history (beginning in 1942), many of the most important names in the theatrical world have been invited to be “castaways”. I have pulled out a selection here for your interest.

To access these you will need to register for a BBC account, which you can do quickly and easily at any of the pages listed below.

Sir John Gielgud

By the way, if you are interested in the people who have appeared on the show, a brave soul is compiling two lists of castaways- 1942-1975, and 1975 onwards. You can see how the project is getting on and browse the names here

I’ll add more to our own theatre list as I have time. Perhaps you might want to add suggestions of your own in the comments below. Add a link if you can for others!

April 10, 2022April 12, 2022

Nottingham theatrical collaboration enriches tour audiences’ experience

Emily Connell, Ade Andrews (tour guide) and Maddy Clark

In Nottingham, the Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall team cleverly used the lengthy break in backstage tours due to Covid-19, along with National Lottery Heritage Funding, by reassessing, updating and bringing a fascinating new dimension to the venue’s popular backstage tours via a bespoke costume commission.

Two costume design students from Nottingham Trent University (NTU), Maddy Clark and Emily Connell, were commissioned to produce a unique new costume for tour guide Ade Andrews, inspired by materials found in the venue’s extensive archive Heritage Archive at Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham.

Maddy Clark, a second year BA (Hons) Costume Design and Construction student at NTU, said: “The design of the waistcoat is based on wallpaper patterns from the original plans for the building, and I also used original designs for the pillars, stone and marblework. The design for the scarves is taken from a huge variety of postcards featuring actors and lots of interesting characters and faces from the archive. It was really fun to consider all the theatrical needs of the costume.”

Emily Connell, in her final year studying BA (Hons) Costume Design and Construction at NTU, said: “The best part of this project has been the freedom to have fun and look into the archive. The waistcoat fabric matches the venue perfectly. It’s really cool to see our work up on stage.”

Ade Andrews, who leads the Limelight Backstage Tour in character as storyteller Ezekial Bone, said: “It’s a joy doing the Limelight Backstage Tour, but I haven’t done it for a couple of years so being here again, in the costume, is really bringing it back to me. Before, the costume I wore was some bits and bobs I had of my own to conjure up the character, but now I have the definitive costume it’s going to really help breathe life into the whole thing again.”

Character-led Limelight Backstage Tours of the Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall recommence from April 23rd. See the attached link for more details. Limelight Backstage Tours

October 3, 2021September 30, 2021

Archives in danger: call for applications as new funding now available

Archive photo via British Library website with thanks

Do you know of any collections that are currently at risk and need preserving?

The British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme is now accepting preliminary applications for the next annual funding round – the deadline for submission of preliminary applications is Monday 15^th November 2021 at 12 noon GMT. Full details of the application procedures and documentation are available on the EAP website.

The Programme has funded over 430 projects in 90 countries and has helped preserve manuscripts, rare printed books, newspapers and periodicals, audio and audio-visual materials, photographs and temple murals. The programme aims to digitise archives at risk of loss or decay and, where possible, to relocate the material to a safe local archival home. The digital copies are deposited with the local archival partners, and are all available for researchers to access freely through the British Library website.

This year, they are accepting applications through their online portal between 1^st and 15^th November. However, in the meantime, they are providing Word and PDF documents for applicants to perfect their preliminary applications before the online submission.

If you know of an archive in a region of the world were resources are limited, we really hope you will encourage them to apply. If you have any questions regarding the conditions of award or the application process, consult their website or contact them at endangeredarchives@bl.uk

Anyone with a theatre archive needing care and funding to survive, please ensure you apply!

April 24, 2021April 23, 2021

Theatre archive; watch decorative plaster makers at work

If you, like me, have ever looked intently with pleasure at the beautiful plasterwork in many of our older theatres, then you will be intrigued to discover and enjoy this short film courtesy of British Pathe which details the process of casting elaborate plaster decoration for theatre walls and ceilings.

For anyone interested in, or wanting to know more about theatre plasterwork, further reading can be found in an interesting article by David Harrison here