Monthly Archives: December 2010

Excellent exhibitions!

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I’m pleased to announce that the much-anticipated exhibitions by the students of ‘British theatre 1860-1940′ went off brilliantly, an much fun was had all round. Not only did all eighteen students produce really good work, but they also introduced their exhibitions to all of our guests, chatted about what they had discovered and even played a part expertly pouring drinks for the opening!

All of the feedback which I have had from guests and visitors has been overwhelmingly positive, with everyone hoping to repeat the success in the next semester…so there’s no pressure for next semester’s module group!

More on the exhibitions will follow, including a new section of the Special Collections website, where we hope to include details of each exhibition that takes place in the reading room, and link to students’ exhibition websites.

In the meantime, please come and visit the reading room to see the excellent work. We will be reopening from 4th January 2011, at the usual times of 9.30-1 and 2-4.30, Monday to Friday. The exhibition will remain up until 14th January.

And if you’d like to whet your appetite, or see more on the exhibitions, please have a look at the websites:

Theatre and Class Identity

The Popularity of Music Hall

Women in Victorian Theatre

Any comments would be gratefully received!

Exhibitions looming

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The final preparations are now under way for the British Theatre 1860-1940 Exhibition, which will open to the public on Wednesday 15th December.

The reading room and office have been tidied up, cleaning is underway and three sets of empty boards are looming over three remarkably clear tables. We have six sheets of (almost) identically cut cotton waiting to throw over each group’s work (in the interest of fairness), which will be covered until the grand unveiling. Cushions, books rests, snake weights and Secol covers are neatly stacked, awaiting the formation of three different exhibits created by the eighteen students of the British Theatre module.

The exhbits will be titled

  • The changing representation of women 1860-1910
  • The reasons for the popularity of Music Hall
  • The ways in which theatre troubled class relations

Each group of six students has gone through a process of exploring the sources available in Special Collections, researching topics which interest them and selecting sources to support the arguments they make in the course of their exhibit.

While staff have been on hand to offer advice on the use of collections and on the topics, the work is the students’ own and will draw on their theatrical experiences to inform current academic debates. We are looking forward to experiencing the work which these talented students produce and hope that you will be able to share in it.

If you can’t get to the exhibition, opening times below, each group will produce a website to support their exhibit, which will include digital images of the sources they used. We hope, in the near future, to be able to link these websites to the Special Collections website in order to make this work accessible to everyone.

Exhibition Opening Times

Opens: Wednesday 15th December

Daily opening: 9.30-1pm & 2-4.30pm Monday-Friday (normal reading room opening times)

Closures: 12-3pm Tuesday 21st December
23 December-3rd January (Library closure for vacation)

Closes: 7th January

If in doubt, please phone ahead of your visit on 01227 827609