Theatre / Features
Theatrical treasures earn national recognition
There may be items in its collection dating back centuries, but for the director of the University of Bristol’s world renowned Theatre Collection, one of its principal benefits is not simply preserving the past but also inspiring new work.
On a recent morning, Jo Elsworth’s enthusiasm was infectious as she unwrapped some of the collection’s treasures, from a map of London from 1572 showing a bear baiting pit on the site of the future Globe Theatre, to Noel Coward’s silk dressing gown.
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More than two million items are stored in the collection’s current home in a former printing works on Park Row a short distance from the Wills Memorial Building, making it one of the world’s largest archives of British theatre history and live art.
Its importance has been recognised with the announcement on Thursday that the collection now holds ‘designated’ status by Arts Council England – which recognises, celebrates and champions collections of national and international significance held outside national museums.
University of Bristol Theatre Collection Jo Elsworth unwraps the death mask of Sir Henry Irving, one of the most famous of English actors and the first of his profession to be knighted in 1895 for services to the stage – photo by Martin Booth
Jo has worked with the collection for 18 years, starting with just two staff and two rooms, and now being in charge of the culmination of more than 60 years of accumulated items from actors, collectors, designers, directors, performers and writers.
The painstaking task of barcoding every item is already beginning in preparation for a move to the university’s new £50m library due to open in a few years’ time on Woodland Road. Once in its new home, more items from the collection will be able to be seen and shared with visitors, students and the local community.
The University of Bristol Theatre Collection currently occupies the former Vandyck Printers building on Park Row – photo by Martin Booth
On this recent morning, Jo continued showing just a glimpse of these items, including eighteenth century silver tokens allowing the bearer to see any show they wanted at the Bristol Old Vic, a flag carried at the funeral of David Garrick in Westminster Abbey, the dueling pistols of Sir Henry Irving used on stage at the Lyceum Theatre and an early watercolour of the Bristol Hippodrome.
“There’s something about being able to capture the history of what has happened over the centuries and the role that theatre has played in our lives,” said Jo.
“It’s an honour being able to care for these things that give our country a sense of identity.”
Speaking next to a pair of white gloves signed by Laurence Olivier, Jo said that the collection is “a source of being able to look back in the past but also understand who we are today and make a change for the future”.
She added: “What we do here is be a springboard for new ideas for the future, and get a really intimate look into people’s lives.”
Among more than two million items in the collection are items dropped between the Bristol Old Vic’s floorboards that were found during its renovation in 2009 – photo by Martin Booth
One surprising look into people’s lives was found during the refurbishment of the Old Vic’s main auditorium, with Jo opening a box containing things such as a Fry’s chocolate wrapper that had fallen through the gaps in the stalls floor.
Wearing white gloves, hers remaining unsigned, Jo took another of the wrappers which still had the logo and an illustration of the former Bath Bacon & Sausage Factory, once perhaps holding a pork pie to be enjoyed in the interval.
She looked at the scrap of paper with as much reverence as any other item in the collection. “It’s just so evocative of a city going to the theatre.”
Main photo: the stage design for Look Back in Anger performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1956 – photo by Martin Booth
Read more: Bristol Uni reveal plans for new library
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