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Dateline: 28th February, 2006 Theatre Museum's New Reading Room The Theatre Museum has just relocated its reading room to the spacious Research Collections centre at Blythe House, close to the Kensington Olympia tube station. Run by helpful and knowledgeable archivists, the new arrangement has been designed to improve public access to its collections. But last weekend staff at the Theatre Museum were understandably dismayed by press speculation (Sunday Times ‘Culture’ section, 26th Feb) that its Covent Garden premises in Russell Street, opened nearly 20 years ago, face ‘probable closure’ following two failed bids to raise money for redevelopment from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This comes at a time when, under a new and dynamic leadership, the Museum at the heart of Theatreland has been typically attracting some 600 visitors a day to its changing gallery displays; regular professional productions in the basement Studio Theatre (currently a rare revival of Arthur Miller’s Two Way Mirror); plus talks, discussions, workshops and social functions from theatre book launches to the annual Peter Brook Empty Space Awards — log on to theatremuseum.org/whatson for listings and details. But the buzz of activity at its Covent Garden base, including the recent Broadway retrospective of Al Hirschfeld caricatures, and the current 50th birthday celebrations for Waiting for Godot and Look Back in Anger, is just the tip of the iceberg. The museum’s holdings, founded at the beginning of the last century and the largest of their kind in the world, are now safely housed in its vast premises in Kensington, including valuable research and historical material from the Gabrielle Enthoven collection and the Redgrave and Royal Court archives. This glorious treasure-house of theatrical artefacts includes costumes, designs, playscripts and prompt books, programmes, periodicals, press cuttings and posters. Among the many gems are Sheridan’s manuscript of The School for Scandal and Ivor Novello’s star-studded visitors book with autograph signatures of every theatrical luminary from the Twenties to the Forties of the last century. The centre also houses a growing archive of video recordings of hundreds of professional stage productions, available for viewing in the newly established Reading Room, open Wednesday to Friday and complete with video playback stations and power points for laptop users. There is no charge for use of the reading room other than for photographic and photocopying services. But security is paramount, and it is absolutely essential to make a prior appointment by e-mail to tmenquiries@vam.ac.uk. Reporter: John Thaxter Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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