Collection: Theatre Royal, Birmingham

Description

Thirty-two photographs documenting the third Theatre Royal on New Street, Birmingham, and Bragg's Wine Cellars beneath it. This, the third Theatre Royal to stand on the site (after the destruction of the first two by fire) was built in 1820 to the designs of architect Samuel Beazley. It stood until its demolition in 1902 to make way for the fourth and final Theatre Royal on ths site, which opened in 1904. Two of the photographs in this set have been attributed to the Birmingham-based photographer Bernard Moore. It is possible that he also took the other images in this set, however this cannot be proven at present.

It is likely that this set of thirty-two images were taken to record the theatre before its demolition, and it is possible that there are more images, taken at the same time, that are not held in this collection; similar images are reproduced in Richard Southern's 1970 book, 'The Victorian Theatre - a Pictorial Survey', along with several from this collection, although he is likely to have sourced the images from either the archives of the Drama Department at the University of Bristol or from Birmingham Reference Library, as credited in the acknowledgements of the book.

The photographs provide record good coverage of the interior of the theatre, showing the backstage areas including props stores, workshops, the scene painting area, stage drops, fly floor and lifting gears. There are also several views of the orchestra pit and stage, including one with a dinner party taking place. Also included are photographs of the interior of Bragg's Wine Cellar, located beneath the theatre, showing staff and patrons.

Archival History

Received Via : No information available Provenance : No information is known regarding the acquisition of this collection. The photographer is believed to be Mr B Moore, this name appears on two negatives, together with an original numbering scheme. Some of these images were reproduced in "The Victorian Theatre" by Richard Southern [University of Bristol Drama Department], who also hold lantern slides.

Content

Rights

Source: Historic England Archive