Contents [ printable ]
THM/382 - Peter Streuli- THM/382/1 - Diaries
- THM/382/2 - Correspondence
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THM/382/3 - Production Notes
- THM/382/3/1 - Teaching Notes 1940's
- THM/382/3/2 - Notes on Heloise and Abelard.
- THM/382/3/3 - Notes relating to music written for Hamlet.
- THM/382/3/4 - Stage Names: Notes on Theatre.
- THM/382/3/5 - Notes on Production and Acting.
- THM/382/3/6 - Notes relating to a Weekend Course in Doncaster.
- THM/382/3/7 - Production Notes and notes on New Theatre Forms.
- THM/382/3/8 - Production notes on The Seagull by Anton Chekov
- THM/382/4 - Theatrical Papers
- THM/382/5 - Translations
- THM/382/6 - Memorabilia
- THM/382/7 - Designs
Peter Streuli
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Brief Description
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| This material is held at | V & A Department of Theatre and Performance |
| Reference Number(s) | gb 71 THM/382 |
| Dates of Creation | 1939-1978 |
| Name of Creator | Peter Streuli |
| Language of Material | English |
| Physical Description | 4 boxes (35 files) |
Scope and Content
Arrangement
The original working order of this archive has largely been lost. It has therefore been divided into seven series:
- THM/382/1: Diaries
- THM/382/2: Correspondence
- THM/382/3: Production notes
- THM/382/4: Theatrical papers
- THM/382/5: Translations
- THM/382/6: Memorabilia
- THM/382/7: Designs
This collection consists of the correspondence, papers, work notes, translations, desk diaries, memorabilia and designs of Peter Streuli and provides an insight into the progression of his long career.
Administrative / Biographical History
In a forty year career in the theatre, Peter Streuli worked as an actor, director and producer, as well as being assistant director at The Old Vic Theatre School and later Director of Technical Training at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He was born in Ealing, West London in 1915 and educated at Taunton School and Birkbeck College, where he was a member of the dramatic society. He studied acting at the Webber Douglas School, graduating in 1938 and spent the next several years as a juvenile lead in over 80 plays in London, provincial repertory theatres and on tours of England and Scotland.
In 1944 he joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre under Sir Barry Jackson as a stage director and actor and was also joint organiser of the Birmingham Theatre School. Two years later he moved back to London as production manager at the Arts Theatre, where he was also able to produce. After touring Europe in 1946/7 with the English Arts Theatre Company, he married Marion Menzies in 1947 and moved into regional repertory theatre, firstly as a producer at Worthing for nine months and then to Southport, Lancashire as director, producer and sometimes designer of a fortnightly repertory company.
His career took a new direction in 1950 when he was appointed assistant director at the Old Vic Theatre School, working alongside Glen Byam Shaw, George Devine and Michel St Denis and in 1952 he was invited to become stage director and lighting designer at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford where he stayed for five seasons. Among the memorable productions he worked on as a director were Antony and Cleopatra (1953) with Michael Redgrave and Peggy Ashcroft, Othello (1954) with Anhony Quayle, Twelfth Night (1955) with John Gielgud, Macbeth and Titus Andronicus (1955) both with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh and Peter Brook's production of The Tempest (1957) with John Gielgud.
Whilst still continuing to act - for example as The Inquisitor in St Joan (1958) at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry and produce - Rashid, Doctor in the House, Look Back in Anger (1958) - Streuli was appointed Director of Productions for the Pitlochry Theatre in 1959 where his experience and meticulous planning saw five productions staged that season. He would continue his association with Pitlochry until 1962. In the meantime, he had joined the teaching staff at the Central School of Speech and Drama in 1960 where three years later he was appointed Director of Technical (Stage Management) Training. He retired in 1981. Of his time there, National Theatre director Julian Barnes paid tribute by saying "Peter ensured that students learnt how to appreciate both the actors' and writer's craft, through play study and joint classes. They learnt to speak and move, sharing the actors' skills. Such disciplines for technicians are rare." Peter Streuli died on January 2nd, 2007, aged 91. He was survived by his two sons Michael and Charles.
Conditions Governing Access
This archive is available for consultation in the V&A Department of Theatre & Performance's reading room, which is located at Blythe House, 23 Blythe Rd, Olympia, London, W14 0QX. The reading room is open Tuesday to Friday's between 10.15 am and 4.30 pm, access to it is by appointment only. To request an appointment please email tmenquiries@vam.ac.uk or telephone 020 7942 2698.
Additionally access to some of these files may be restricted. These are identified at file level.
Conditions Governing Use
Archive material may not be photocopied. Arrangements can be made to photograph material in the search room using non-flash photography.
Acquisition Information
Received as a gift from Michael Streuli in 2009.
Custodial History
This archive formed part of the estate of Peter Streuli.
Accruals
Further accruals are not expected.
Subjects | |
| Theater -- Great Britain -- 20th century | |
| Theater -- Production and direction -- History -- 20th century | |
Personal Names | |
| Streuli, Peter. ( 1915-2007) | |
Cataloguing Info
| Title | Peter Streuli |
| Sub-title | Catalogue of records in the Victoria & Albert Museum: Department of Theatre and Performance |
| Author | Catalogued by Chris Marlowe |
| Revisions |
Diaries
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/1 |
| Dates of Creation | 1950-1957 |
| Physical Description | 9 files |
Arrangement
The desk diaries from 1950-1957 give an insight into Peter Streuli's day to day working and private life and cover his period with the Old Vic Theatre School (1950-1952) and his tenure at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (1953-1957). "Noises Off-Stage" Streuli describes as "a personal diary of a member of the English Arts Theatre touring Europe in 1946 and 1947. The plays presented were Hamlet, Othello, Bernard Shaw's Candida and Don Quan in Hell. The Company left England on September 27th 1946. The first performance was given in Prague on October 5th and the last in Zurich on February 16th 1947" The diary contains chapters on Austria, Belgium, Holland, France, Italy and Switzerland and offers, amongst other things, Streuli's impressions of theatre and cinema in each location at that time.
Desk Diaries
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/1/1 |
| Dates of Creation | 1950-1957 |
Scope and Content
Desk Diary 1951
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/1/1/2 |
| Dates of Creation | 1951 |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Scope and Content
Desk Diary 1952
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/1/1/3 |
| Dates of Creation | 1952 |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Scope and Content
Desk Diary 1953
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/1/1/4 |
| Dates of Creation | 1953 |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Scope and Content
Desk Diary 1954
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/1/1/5 |
| Dates of Creation | 1954 |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Scope and Content
Desk Diary 1955
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/1/1/6 |
| Dates of Creation | 1955 |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Scope and Content
Desk Diary 1956
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/1/1/7 |
| Dates of Creation | 1956 |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Scope and Content
Correspondence
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/2 |
| Dates of Creation | 1939-1968 |
| Physical Description | 6 files |
Arrangement
Correspondence both personal and professional charting not only the progression of Streuli's career, but also his personal qualities of warmth, loyalty and meticulous organisation.
Correspondence 1939-1945
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/2/1 |
| Dates of Creation | 1939-1945 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Correspondence with agents, theatrical managements and technicians.
Correspondence 1939-1946
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/2/2 |
| Dates of Creation | 1939-1946 |
| Physical Description | 2 folders |
Scope and Content
Correspondence with artists and directors
Correspondence 1945-1958
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/2/3 |
| Dates of Creation | 1945-1958 |
| Physical Description | 2 folders |
Scope and Content
Correspondence with artists, directors and writers.
Correspondence 1946-1954
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/2/4 |
| Dates of Creation | 1946-1954 |
| Physical Description | 2 folders |
Scope and Content
Correspondence with artists and theatrical managements.
Correspondence 1947-1950
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/2/5 |
| Dates of Creation | 1947-1950 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Correspondence with play agents/theatrical managements.
Production Notes
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/3 |
| Dates of Creation | 1944-1964 |
| Physical Description | 7 files |
Arrangement
Notes on all aspects of theatre production from different phases of Streuli's career.
Teaching Notes 1940's
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/3/1 |
| Dates of Creation | 1940's |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Scope and Content
Teaching Notes used at Birmingham Repertory Theatre School.
Notes on Heloise and Abelard.
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/3/2 |
| Dates of Creation | 1940's |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Notes relating to music written for Hamlet.
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/3/3 |
| Dates of Creation | 1945 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Notes and correspondence relating to music written by E. J. Moeran for "Hamlet".
Stage Names: Notes on Theatre.
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/3/4 |
| Dates of Creation | 1945 |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Scope and Content
Notes on Theatre 16th-20th century (Copy No 2 with new notes).
Notes on Production and Acting.
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/3/5 |
| Dates of Creation | 1945-1948 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Notes relating to a Weekend Course in Doncaster.
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/3/6 |
| Dates of Creation | 1952 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Notes relating to a residential weekend course in Doncaster, April 1952
Production Notes and notes on New Theatre Forms.
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/3/7 |
| Dates of Creation | 1950-1953 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
General production notes, plus notes on The Questors - "Revolution or Evolution: Towards a New Theatre".
Production notes on The Seagull by Anton Chekov
| Reference Number(s) | gb 71 THM/382/3/8 |
| Dates of Creation | ca. 1975 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Contains notes regarding the movement of characters across the stage, some music fragments, a map of Russia in the time of Chekov, an exam question sheet and a script of The Seagull with commentary and notes pasted alongside.
This material was previously in the same folder as material in THM/382/4/8.
Theatrical Papers
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/4 |
| Dates of Creation | 1944-1978 |
| Physical Description | 7 files |
Arrangement
Diverse material ranging from an early CV and a 1947 Equity publication on theatrical lodgings, to papers relating to the Art's Theatre, the Southport Repertory Theatre, The Pitlochry Festival 1958-1966 and the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Theatrical Papers
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/4/1 |
| Dates of Creation | 1940-1947 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Miscellaneous papers including a 1940 CV, Arts Theatre weekly takings for 1945/46, press cuttings and a booklet on Theatrical Lodgings.
Theatrical Papers
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/4/2 |
| Dates of Creation | 1948-1956 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Miscellaneous papers including material from the Southport Repertory Theatre and a 1953 visitors list to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.
Theatrical Papers
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/4/3 |
| Dates of Creation | 1958-1960 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Assorted material from the Pitlochry Festival Theatre Season including groundplans, company notes and rehearsal schedules, correspondence, notes on Artists and theatre programmes together with press review cuttings.
Theatrical Papers
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/4/4 |
| Dates of Creation | 1961-1962 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Assorted material from the Pitlochry Festival Theatre Season including correspondence, a list of Patons for the 1961 Season, notes on Artists and a theatre programme together with press review cuttings.
Theatrical Papers
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/4/5 |
| Dates of Creation | 1962-1963 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Assorted material from the Pitlochry Festival Theatre Season including Company lists with details of Artists, correspondence, budget details, minutes from a 1963 Board of Governors meeting and theatre programmes.
Theatrical Papers
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/4/6 |
| Dates of Creation | 1964-1966 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Assorted material from the Pitlochry Festival Theatre Season including production notes, correspondence, provisional casting charts, a Company list, theatre programmes and press review cuttings.
Theatrical Papers
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/4/7 |
| Dates of Creation | 1960-1978 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Assorted material relating to the Central School of Speech and Drama including 1963/64 course notes, timetables, casting and production notes, correspondence, press cuttings and photographs, plus a 1978 issue 1 copy of "Open Slander".
Theatrical Papers
| Reference Number(s) | gb 71 THM/382/4/8 |
| Dates of Creation | ca.1956-1969 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Contains a Shakespeare Memorial Theatre document entitled ' Stage Management Duties 1956 Season', a company manager's folder with notes for the guidance of company managers and a large table showing the characters in each scene of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.
This material was previously in the same folder as material in THM/382/3/8.
Translations
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/5 |
| Dates of Creation | 1946-1964 |
| Physical Description | 3 files |
Arrangement
Translations and adaptations of three pieces by Peter Streuli.
"Romeo and Jenny"
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/5/1 |
| Dates of Creation | 1946-1947 |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Scope and Content
An adaptation of "Romeo et Jeanette" by Jean Anouila. Streuli describes this as a "rough first translation" and a "digest" of the play, an account of the plot with a few short scenes incorporated.
"Don't Be Too Clever "
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/5/2 |
| Dates of Creation | ca.1946-4964 |
| Physical Description | 1 volume |
Scope and Content
An adaptation of "Gore Ot Ouma" by Alexander Gribeyedev.
Memorabilia
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/6 |
| Dates of Creation | 1946-1947 |
| Physical Description | 2 files |
Arrangement
Memorabilia relating to the tour of Europe by the "English Arts Theatre" in 1946-1947.
Theatre Memorabilia
| Reference Number(s) | THM/382/6/1 |
| Dates of Creation | 1946-1947 |
| Physical Description | 1 folder |
Scope and Content
Material collected on tour in Europe with the "English Arts Theatre" including press cuttings, production photographs, theatre programmes and an article on theatre.
