Theatre programmes and related materials collected by Andrew Leigh

Collection of theatre programmes, primarily of performances in London, collected by Andrew Leigh, theatre manager. Some programmes cover regional British theatres including The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton and the Nottingham Playhouse. There are also a number of programmes relating to the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The majority of programmes cover 1956-2016. There is one programme for the 1925-1926 season for 'Everyman' at the Old Vic, London [Box 4]. The programmes cover various genres including drama, comedy, opera and musicals. There are some accompanying tickets, posters, leaflets and other promotional materials; and there are a few items which do not relate to the theatre including the programme for the 1980 Trooping of the Colour.

The collection also includes three bound photocopied newspaper cutting scrapbooks concerning The Peter Hall Company at The Old Vic, covering 1996-1997.

Andrew Leigh was General Manager and Executive Producer at The Old Vic from 1979 until January 1998. He was employed by The Old Vic Company (Prospect Productions), which went into liquidation in 1981, the Royal Victoria Hall Foundation and, finally, from 1982 to 1998 Ed Mirvish Enterprises Ltd (EME).

Upon deposit, the collection was stored in 15 box-files, with programmes roughly in chronological order; and 8 cardboard cartons, with no discernible order. All material has been re-boxed and arranged into the following series:

/1: Theatre programmes
/2: Scrapbooks
/3: Festival programmes and calendars of events
/4: Material relating to non-theatrical performances
/5: Ephemera and miscelleanous materials

Open, access to all registered researchers.

Presented by Andrew Leigh, February 2018

Please see full catalogue for more information.

Papers arranged and described by Asma Iftikhar and Mark Eccleston, April 2021, in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; and in-house cataloguing guidelines.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Collected maintained by Andrew Leigh

The Special Collections Department holds other personal and artificial collections of theatre playbills, programmes, newscuttings and associated materials. These smaller collections, which were formerly incorporated into the Theatre Collection, include the following:

Theatre Collection, MS38;
Heron-Allen album of playbills, MS107;
Colyer-Fergusson albums, MS108;
The Williams Theatre collection, MS109;
Volume of playbills, MS110;
Album of programmes, MS111;
Louis Cohen Collection, MS112;
The Kemp album, MS113;
Volume of Shakespearian souvenirs and programmes, MS114;
Album of presscuttings, photographs and theatre programmes, MS808;
Theatre programmes, MS897;
Birmingham Repertory Theatre programmes, MS934,
Theatre programmes collected by Andrew Leigh, MS937;
Collection of miscellaneous theatre programmes, playbills, and related items, MS939;
Regional theatre programmes: artificial collection, MS991;
Theatre programmes and ephemera, MS1016;
Theatre programmes, MS1035;
Scrapbook for the 1912 production of 'Twelfth Night', MS1058;
Ephemera relating to Victoria Wood, MS1061;
Theatre programme of 1912 production of 'Twelfth Night', MS1062.

Associated Materials
Bristol University Library, Special Collections, Archon Code: 3 (1970s-2000s, Andrew Leigh Collection)