Austerity and Audacity: Designing for the Post-War Stage

This exhibition was curated by University of Bristol History of Art MA students and focused on the set and costume designs of two innovative British theatre designers, Alan Tagg (1928-2002) and Ralph Adron (b. 1937). The exhibition featured examples of their creative output, from Adron's experimental portfolios produced while a student at the Slade in the 1960s, to Tagg's designs for Look Back in Anger and The Entertainer in the mid-1950s.

The Art of Innovation: Experiencing Nineteenth-century Theatre and Performance 

This exhibition was one of the culminating events for the AHRC-funded project Theatre and Visual Culture in the Long Nineteenth Century. The project was a collaboration between Exeter University and Warwick University, and drew on holdings at the Theatre Collection and the Bill Douglas Museum for research and two exhibitions. Dr Kate Holmes of the University of Exeter guest-curated the Theatre Collection exhibition, described in her blog post and display case images. Please note, the blog post includes flashing images.

A series of Youtube films was also recorded in the Theatre Collection reading room by the project team, exploring aspects of nineteenth-century theatre history and items from the Theatre Collection holdings:

Professor Jim Davis, University of Warwick, on the Bristol Old Vic production of Sixty Thousand Nights in 1966: 'Representing Ninteenth-century Theatre on the Twentieth-century Stage'

Professor Kate Newey, University of Exeter, on 'Industrial Scenic Design: Charles Kean and the Princess's Theatre'

Dr Kate Holmes, University of Exeter, on 'Moving Bodies: What Images Reveal'

Listen to the project's podcast series, The Spectacular Century: Engaged Audiences, which includes an interview with members of staff from the Theatre Collection together with Professor Catherine Hindson of the University of Bristol Theatre Department.

Benevolent Malevolence - Ian Smith's Darkness, Mind and Matter

This online exhibition celebrated the multi-disciplinary artist Ian Smith (1959–2014) and introduced Ian’s eclectic practice that encompassed performance, installation, street theatre, circus, music and poetry to new audiences via a series of virtual gallery spaces.  The exhibition allowed you to take a journey into the mind of the artist by exploring some of his iconic personae and performances, and can be viewed and navigated on screen or using a virtual reality headset.

Curated by University of Bristol MA History of Art students in 2021 during a period of national restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, this exhibition was conceived, researched, developed and produced entirely remotely, supported by the University’s Digital Education Office, using online collaborative software applications (Microsoft Teams, Mural and Virti). The content for the exhibition was selected from Ian’s archive, which was donated to the Theatre Collection and catalogued in 2020.

Dream Designers: Staging Fantasy

History of Art MA students worked with the Theatre Collection to curate an exhibition that draws on the extensive collections of set and costume designs. Dream Designers: Staging Fantasy focused on the work and archives of the twentieth century designers Yolanda Sonnabend, Julia Trevelyan Oman and Ralph Adron. From Unicorn Theatre’s Lizzie Dripping and the Witch to comparative productions of the ballet The Nutcracker, the exhibition used personal and professional archives, film clips and interview to explore how the magic of fantasy and dreams could be created on stage. Access the HoA exhibition 2020 (PDF, 5,997kB) and note that there are links within the exhibition which can be followed for further information. 

The Body is (not) Here: Franko B's Archive

The Body is (not) Here explored the archive of visual artist, curator and teacher Franko B through representations of the human body, which loom large throughout the collection. The physical exhibition is now closed, but it has been documented and can be viewed as a virtual 360 exhibition. Download an exhibition catalogue for The Body is (not) Here (PDF, 1,161kB). Franko B donated his Archive to the Theatre Collection in 2008 where it has been catalogued and conserved as part of the Wellcome Trust funded project ‘Challenging Archives: Delivering research access, public engagement and the curatorial care of the Franko B Archive’. A full catalogue of Franko B's archive can be viewed online.

Please be aware the exhibition contains adult themes and content, which may not be suitable for all audiences.

Staging the Archive

In 2019 the Theatre Collection invited students from the Innovation and Enterprise MSc (Bristol University) to visit the archive and respond to pre-selected objects through the curation of an exhibition. Download an exhibition catalogue.

Talking Audiences: An exhibition curated by Kirsty Sedgman

Dr Kirsty Sedgman is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2020) and Lecturer in Theatre at the University of Bristol. 

Rather than studying performances, plays, or performers themselves, she is interested instead in the people on the other side of the stage. Researching audiences means asking a different kind of question. How do various people experience and find value in the things they see? How are pleasures and disappointments made meaningful within their lives? How do people reach for words to describe experiences we so often think of as indescribable? And what can all this tell us about the role of the arts in society, as well as the relationship between cultural institutions, power, identity, and place? 

This exhibition explored the relationship between Bristol Old Vic and its audiences through material selected from Bristol Old Vic Company Archive. Download a Talking Audiences Catalogue (PDF, 1,555kB)

21 June-1 Nov 2019

Scene: Reflections on the Life and Work of Edward Gordon Craig

For this exhibition, seven invited artist/printmakers showed new work alongside prints held by the Theatre Collection and produced by Edward Gordon Craig from 1898 to 1930. The works reflected not just on Shakespeare but also on design, marionettes, ballet and dance, and the extraordinary life of EGC, son of Ellen Terry and William Godwin, who first met in Bristol in the 1860s. Download a Scene catalogue (PDF, 2,086kB)

17 May-24 June 2019

(re)Designing Shakespeare

Curated by University of Bristol History of Art MA students. Drawing on a range of archival materials including original costume designs, masks, costume pieces and ephemera, this exhibition offered an insight into how costumes for three of Shakespeare's best loved plays - The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night - have been re-imagined by different designers over the past 100 years. Download a (re)Designing Shakespeare catalogue (PDF, 1,302kB)

11-30 June 2019 

Flesh & Text: 30 Years of Bodies in Flight

This exhibition drew together still and moving images, alongside artefacts and commentary about this pioneering company’s work. Reflecting on 30 years of performance-making, the exhibition explores in three parts: the company’s early professional practice; the development of its research methodology working across a range of collaborations; and finally its recent work collaborating with different communities. This exhibition was also shown February - March 2019 at University of Bristol Theatre Department (Wickham Theatre Foyer).

20 November 2018 – 13 January 2019

Oliver Messel: Beyond Theatre

Oliver Messel led a dazzling life as one of London’s ‘Bright Young Things’, forging a creative career that encompassed the magical worlds of theatre, ballet, opera and film, as well as spanning portraiture, textiles, architecture and interior design. A selection of work associated with the Oliver Messel Archive was on display at the RWA, delivered in partnership with the Oliver Messel Archive at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection. More work was in the concurrent exhibition Wake Up and Dream – Oliver Messel: Theatre, Art and Society at the Theatre Collection from 22 November 2018 until April 2019. 

Royal West of England Academy                     

Wake Up and Dream - Oliver Messel: Theatre, Art and Society

Wake Up and Dream captured the romance and imagination behind one of the twentieth centuries brightest theatrical stars, lifting the lid on Oliver Messel’s personal archive. This fascinating exhibition encompassed the magical worlds of theatre, ballet, opera and film as well as a host of artistic practice from portraiture to architecture, to textiles and interior design, featuring costumes, designs, artwork, letters, photography and more, enchanting audiences young and old. Download a Wake Up and Dream catalogue (PDF, 394kB)

All the world’s a stage: EMOTION AND THEATRE 

Emotion and Theatre was an exhibition curated by third year History of Art undergraduate students. It explored the display of emotion on stage as well as its manifestation behind the scenes and in other contexts; from the emotional reactions of an audience, to the raw emotion exercised in rehearsal and the performed emotion created by Live Art. The works were selected from the holdings of the Theatre Collection and comprised a diverse range of media, including photography, etching, caricature, set and costume designs and Live Art documentation. This exhibition was on display in the Theatre Collection reading room and library. Download an EMOTION AND THEATRE catalogue (PDF, 870kB)

In Character: Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh 1937-1973

Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh were among the biggest names in British theatre and film in the twentieth century. While their acting made the duo’s roles iconic, the costumes designed for them to wear on stage further consolidated their illustrious theatrical stature. The University of Bristol Theatre Collection holds a fascinating array of objects relating to Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh that reveal the relationship between actor, character and costume, as well as the close relationships they shared with costume designers such as Oliver Messel, Cecil Beaton, Doris Zinkeisen and Julia Trevelyan Oman. In Character was on display in the Theatre Collection lift lobby and was curated by History of Art MA students. Download an In Character catalogue (PDF, 361kB)

LOV200: celebrating the 200^th anniversary of London Old Vic

Drawing on the London Old Vic Archive at the Theatre Collection, this exhibition featured prints, photographs, playbills and ephemera to celebrate the history of the London Old Vic Theatre, founded originally as the Royal Cobourg Theatre in 1818. The exhibition featured materials about the influential managers Emma Cons and Lilian Baylis as well as a fragment from the spectacular ‘glass curtain’ hung on stage in 1826! Download an LOV200 catalogue (PDF, 1,423kB)

Three Women Theatre Pioneers 

Curated by Dr. Rebecca D’Monté (Senior Lecturer in Drama, University of the West of England) this exhibition looked at the work and life of three female theatre pioneers from the 29th century, Emma Cons, Lilian Baylis and Cicely Hamilton. Download a Three Women Theatre Pioneers catalogue (PDF, 333kB)

Berta Freistadt:  A feminist life in theatre 

Berta Freistadt: A feminist life in theatre celebrated the life and work of the lesbian feminist playwright, stage director and teacher Berta Freistadt, MA (1942-2009). The University of Bristol Theatre Collection holds the archive of this multi-talented practitioner whose work encompassed theatrical experiences ranging from creating and encouraging children’s theatre and the regional repertory movement, to the intellectual concern with the history of women’s theatre and promotion of feminist and LGBT+ theatre. This exhibition showcased a selection of material from this rich archive to mark LGBT+ month. Download a Berta Freistadt catalogue (PDF, 341kB)

Performing Identity: Art and Artifice

Performing Identity: Art and Artifice was an exhibition curated by the History of Art BA undergraduate students. It explored the complex theme of identity in works of art at the Theatre Collection. The exhibition revolved around oppositions within the theatre: actor versus character, illusion versus reality, factual place and fictional setting. From preliminary costume and set designs to completed character portraits, the exhibition explored the construction of identity, both in front of and behind the theatre curtain. Download a Performing Identity catalogue (PDF, 666kB)

Capturing Creativity

Curated by History of Art MA students Capturing Creativity showcases particular items from the Theatre Collection that reveal the hidden stories of the creative process that takes place before the curtain rises. The main figures in the exhibition are therefore the designers, composers, artists and directors, rather than the actors. Initial ideas are captured in sketches, annotations, doodles and designs. The crossings-out, amendments and sudden flashes of inspiration displayed across many of these items, trace the complex process of invention that is a part of every theatre production. Download a Capturing Creativity catalogue (PDF, 726kB)

Playwright: the craft of Kevin Elyot

This exhibition provided a snapshot of Kevin Elyot’s work and career. It combined materials used for inspiration, notebooks and work-in-progress scripts that explore his process, with publicity materials displaying the realisation from page to production. Kevin Elyot’s first career was as an actor but his real passion was for writing. His success spanned theatre and later television, where alongside his sole authored work he crafted successful adaptations. Download a Playwright catalogue (PDF, 4,200kB)

University of Bristol Theatre Collection

Premières