Theatre programmes and other ephemera relating to Nottingham Playhouse,1963-1984

Scope and Content

The collection is primarily concerned with Nottingham Playhouse and contains the followingseries.

  • The Nottingham Playhouse theatre programmes. 1963-1984 (MS 679/1);
  • Newspaper cuttings relating to Nottingham Playhouse and to its artistic director, John Neville(MS 679/2);
  • Photographs and postcards of the theatre and actors (MS 679/3);
  • Ephemera relating to Nottingham Playhouse and to the Theatre Royal, Nottingham (MS 679/4).

Administrative / Biographical History

Nottingham Playhouse, a repertory theatre, opened in November 1948 in a disused cinema buildingin Goldsmith Street, Nottingham. The first performance was of George Bernard Shaw's 'Man andSuperman'. In 1958, Nottingham City Council proposed the building of a new theatre. Constructionbegan on Wellington Circus, Nottingham in 1961 and the first production, 'Coriolanus', opened inDecember 1963. The performance featured John Neville, Dorothy Reynolds, Leo McKern and Ian McKellen.Neville (born 1927) was the theatre's artistic director from 1965 to 1968, after holding theposition jointly for two years. After leaving Nottingham, he worked mainly in Canada but also actedin a number of plays at the National Theatre.

Arrangement

The collection has been divided by document type into series. Within these series, items havebeen arranged chronologically.

Access Information

ACCESS: Pending full processing, access to thecollection is limited and is possible only for registered users by advance notice and agreement.

LANGUAGE: English

Other Finding Aids

  • This description is the only finding aid available for the collection. Copyright in thedescription belongs to The University of Nottingham.

Conditions Governing Use

REPROGRAPHIC: Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purposesonly, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

COPYRIGHT: Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult.Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advancein writing from the Keeper of Manuscripts and Special Collections (email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk).

Custodial History

The collection was given to The University of Nottingham's Department of Manuscripts and SpecialCollections in 1994.

Related Material

  • The University of Nottingham; Papers of Sir Hugh Willatt including printed items produced byNottingham Playhouse. Reference: THW
  • The University of Nottingham; Play scripts used by Nottingham Playhouse. c.1965-1979.Reference: Tw T 4
  • Nottinghamshire County Council; Nottinghamshire Archives: Records of Nottingham Playhouseincluding Board papers, financial records, correspondence, and papers relating to the production ofplays. 1947-1993. Reference: DD NP