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Dateline: 21st November, 2010 M & M Moves to Bristol The Mander and Mitchenson collection is on the move. The Trustees were to officially announce on 1st December that it is becoming part of the Theatre Collection of the University of Bristol which has its own Museum and premises where it will remain available to both researchers and the general public. Someone already jumped the gun in making the announcement so you may have heard the news already. Anyone who worked in or wrote about theatre in the second half of the 20th century was likely to know, or at least know of, Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson. They were a couple who met as young actors in the late 1930s. They didn't achieve great fame as performers but left the theatre a remarkable legacy for they both had a passion for theatre history and theatrical memorabilia. Their house at Venner Road in Sydenham was packed from basement to attic with their collection which ranged from programmes, prints and photographs to costumes, props, pottery figures and paintings, scripts, books, letters, contracts and all kinds of theatrical ephemera covering the legitimate and variety stage and related arts including circus. They drew on it to write and illustrate the books they authored, opened it to other researchers and gained an income from fees to publishers for reproduction rights. From penny prints bought when struggling actors it grew with gifts from friends in theatre who ranged from John Geilgud, Noël Coward and Sybil Thorndike to newcomers such as Judi Dench who rapidly became one of their favourites. Great ones for gaining personal confidences they dished out tea and sympathy and wise advice as well as coming up with the image or information that you needed which they knew just where to find in bookcases and cupboards, or in the boxes and folders piled up on the stairs or tucked under a bed By the 1970s the collection had totally outgrown their home and a compulsory purchase order issued by Lewisham Borough Council prompted action. In 1977 a charitable trust was formed, under the presidency of Lord Olivier, to ensure its future and a board of distinguished trustees appointed. Joe died in 1983 and a home for the collection was found, with Ray still in charge, in a mansion in Beckenham Place Park where it was hoped it would become a public museum. Richard Mangan, with a career that included stage management for Olivier at the National behind him, joined as administrator in 1988. After fifteen years Beckenham decided to sell the house and, after a spell in temporary accommodation, with the support of the Jerwood Foundation a new home was found at Greenwich as an independent collection at the Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts at Trinity College of Music, in the Old Naval College. However, the Collection remained entirely self-supporting and in the last couple of years it has become clear to the Trustees that, due both to the worldwide decline in reproduction fees, which had always been its mainstay, and to the difficulty of raising an endowment of £1million to provide an income, maintaining independence was no longer possible. They therefore had to look for a way of ensuring that the Collection could stay intact and remain available to everyone. Discussions have taken place with many academic and public institutions before deciding on the right course of action but, although some will regret the move from London, a very happy solution has been arrived at in taking the collection to Bristol and the move itself is being funded by the Noel Coward Foundation and the Mackintosh Foundation. Together with the University's Theatre Collection, which is an Accredited Museum and was already the second largest theatre archive in the UK, the move will create one of the world's largest theatre history collections. It will be an unparalleled research facility that is open to all; from students and academic researchers to theatre professionals and the media, as well as family historians and interested members of the public. Bristol University, the first in the UK to establish a Drama Department, founded its Collection in 1951. It now holds a vast number of original documents, photographs, artwork and artifacts from theatres, actors, designers, photographers and much more. Significant archive collections include London Old Vic, Bristol Old Vic, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Julia Trevelyan Oman, the Live Art Archives and a large design collection of more than 5,000 original set and costume designs. Together with the Mander and Mitchenson treasure trove it offers an amazing resource. The Theatre Collection is based at 21 Park Row, Bristol BS1 5LT. (the entrance is opposite the Trenchard Street multi-storey car park). It is open Monday 12.00 pm - 4.45 pm, Tuesday - Friday 9.30 am - 4.45 pm but closed at weekends, on Bank Holidays, University closure days and occasional other days. You are recommended to telephone 0117 331 5086 (daytime) or email theatre-collection@bristol.ac.uk a few days prior to your visit to book a place in the Reading Room and also to ensure that the Collection holds the material for which you are looking. Howard Loxton
Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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