I was fortunate to have been invited to the launch last week of the Roy Waters Theatre Collection at Royal Holloway: a superb, newly available, resource. This guest post is by Adele Allen, Special Collections Archivist, who has just finished cataloguing the collection.
I am delighted to have been invited to write a guest post on
the Roy Waters Theatre Collection, held at Royal Holloway, University of
London.
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RW/1/7/6: Photograph of Roy Waters in Boscastle, 1948
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The collection of theatrical ephemera was bequeathed to the
university in 2010 by the former
teacher, school inspector and theatre enthusiast
Roy Waters (1928-2010). It was Roy’s despair about how to conceal the elaborate
flock wallpaper covering the walls of his new home and the subsequent
suggestion of a friend that he use framed playbills and posters so as to make
the space resemble a theatre foyer, which led him to spend over forty years
carefully acquiring an impressive array of autograph letters, printed ephemera
and artefacts reflecting his passion for the theatre.
The collection provides a fascinating insight into theatrical
entertainment through the interests of a private collector. With a particular
emphasis on well known actors, actresses and dramatists, the collection vividly
illustrates their careers via autograph letters, programmes, playbills, photographs,
news cuttings, prints and artefacts, ranging from the eighteenth to the twenty
first century. We also hold Roy Waters’ personal papers, providing insight into
the man behind the ephemera.
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| RW/4/4/2/6. Playbill, 1807 | | |
The focus of the collection on individual actors, actresses
and singers is emphasised by the fact that the many series, including autograph
letters and sheet music, are arranged alphabetically by performer - from
Frances Abington writing in 1786 to Doris Zinkeisen, painter, theatrical
costume and set designer in 1955 in the case of the letters, and from the
dulcet tones of Henry Ainley to those of Tom Woottwell in the sheet music.
However, as is the nature of private collections, particular enthusiasms
emerged over the course of Roy’s collecting, and these are given special
emphasis. Oscar Wilde, Henry Irving and Noel Coward at various times were the
focus of his list of ephemera ‘wants’, and as a consequence there are discrete series of material
relating to these individuals, including, for instance, two 1882 cabinet card
photographs of Oscar Wilde taken by Napoleon Sarony in New York. Likewise,
there is a wonderful selection of scene sheets from continental toy theatre
publishers such as Paluzie [Spain] and Schreiber [Germany].
The material, eclectic and varied as it is, can be brought together to
tell a compelling story about the relationship between the theatre and the
society in which it operated. Newspapers from 1681-1945 allow not only
an insight into shows being advertised and reviewed, but the political and
social context within which the plays were staged. Playbills and posters
equally can provide information beyond cast lists and scene summaries, a
Princess’s Theatre playbill for ‘King Lear’ dating from 1858 includes a passage
written by Charles Kean about the production and the Princess's Theatre's
staging of the play, with reference made to other Shakespearian revivals at the
theatre. Likewise, a Theatre Royal, Covent Garden playbill of 1809 is largely
given over to a response to the O.P [Old Price] Riots, with a notice from the
committee 'for examining the affairs of Covent Garden', justifying the rise in
the price of admission with audited accounts covering the previous seasons.
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| RW/15/1/5 Toy theatre print, 1831 |
Visually appealing as well, the collection contains a
fantastic sequence of portrait and satirical prints, as well as cabinet card
photographs and over 3000 photographic postcards. A small but varied collection
of original art work ranges from a Samuel de Wilde painting of Stephen Kemble
as Falstaff – reputedly the only English actor to play the role without
artificial padding (!) – to a limited edition print of a David Bowie self
portrait, signed by the artist. Six Agatha Walker wax figurines of characters
from ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ as well as another of Gwen Ffrangcon Davies in ‘The
Barrett’s of Wimpole Street’ add a three dimensional appeal to the collection. The
world of film and radio is in fact well represented, with over 400 cigarette
cards, a discreet series of material including a number of photographs relating
to the actor Edmund Gwenn, the only actor to receive an Academy Award for playing
the role of Santa Claus, and a file of correspondence from the Hollywood actress
Una O’Connor.
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RW/14/3/14: Cabinet photograph by Félix Nadar of Sarah Bernhardt as
Lady Macbeth, 1899
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The collection is now available for study due to the kind
inclusion in the Roy Waters bequest of funds to undertake a project to
catalogue and re-house the material. A launch hosted at Royal Holloway last
week announced the new availability of the collection with an exhibition and
drinks reception and it is our hope Roy’s array of ephemera will be well used
by researchers. The collection may be searched via our online catalogue at
www.rhul.ac.uk/archives. We welcome
enquiries and requests to view the material and may be contacted by email:
archives@rhul.ac.uk.
Adele Allen
Special Collections Archivist (Roy Waters Theatre
Collection)
