- Wikidata identifier:
- Q5548053
- Also known as:
- Georgian Theatre
- Instance of:
- theatre building
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 83
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q5548053/
Collection-level records:
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Collection history (Collection development policy)
The Georgian Theatre Trust was established in 1960. Lady Nancy Crathorne, the Chair of the Trust, launched a successful fundraising appeal prior to the restoration of the Theatre and its reopening in 1963. Since 1963 the theatre has been keeping a record of any show which has been performed in the theatre. The theatre also has a collection of playbills and pictures/images dating back to the 18th century. In 1979, a Museum Exhibition Area was established and an Archive began to be developed. Comprehensive cataloguing of the collection began in 1994 and museum accreditation was first applied for, and awarded, in 2009. In 2014 the theatre was gifted a large collection of theatre related books by Paul Iles who was a former associate director of the theatre. The main item in the theatre collection is the theatre itself. The theatre also holds ‘the Woodland Scene’, believed to be the oldest surviving set of theatre scenery in the country.
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2024
Licence: CC BY-NC
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Collection overview (Collection development policy)
The Museum collections consist of the original theatre building and material relating to the period of the Georgian Theatre in Richmond (approx. 1788 – 1840). The Museum also collects material relating to Samuel Butler, the Theatre’s founder, his theatrical company and the contemporary circuit. The collections also reflect the activities of the Georgian Theatre Royal since its’rediscovery’ in the 1940s and its re-opening in 1963. This collection mainly consists of posters, programs, playbills and autographs from theatre productions and contemporary letters, reports, news cuttings and photographs of the building, its personalities and of actors who have performed in it. The collection currently amounts to 4,375 objects and the inventory is recorded on an electronic database, with appropriate back-ups. The collection includes “The Woodland Scene” which is a set of theatre scenery dating from the period between 1818 and 1836 and is believed to be the oldest surviving theatre scenery in the country. The Museum owns all items in its collection and does not have any long-term loans.
The Museum has collected material relating to theatre during the Georgian period (1714 -1830) as well as the post restoration period of the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond since 1963. The Trust has also collected appropriate material reflecting the history of the building during the intervening period when it was used for other purposes
Source: Collection development policy
Date: 2024
Licence: CC BY-NC