Theatre programmes, 1911–26
Our good friend Dickie spotted a collection of theatre programmes in a second-hand shop and couldn’t resist. They are now in the same hands of the Archive.
There are about one hundred in the collection, most of which are programmes for local theatres up and down the country. They are almost all monochrome, and vary from single folded sheets to stapled booklets. The date range is 1911 to 1926 as far as we can tell. They give us a good idea of the type of entertainment that people paid to see in and around the First World War. A good example is the single-sheet programme for the Finsbury Park Empire, for the week commencing Monday 15 November 1915. All of that week, twice nightly, the performance consisted of:
An overture by an orchestra
‘A quiet rubber’, a play with four actors
The latest news and war films (it was wartime, remember, and cinema was the new thing)
Joe and Willy, a ‘comedy balancing act’
Irene Millar, the ‘dainty, refined and versatile comedienne’
Park’s Eton Boys and Girton’s Girls, in their latest ‘scena’, ‘At home’
Bobbie and Beatie, ‘comedy entertainers’
Chas Cohan, ‘Britain’s premier Hebrew comedian’
Ziguener Quartette, which included the ‘celebrated Australian prima donna’ Madame Jacques Presburg
A packed performance, then, and surely, something for everyone! Admission prices ranged from 7s 6d for the biggest box, to 3d for a seat in the gallery.
There are also some posters, the sort of thing that would be pasted up in public places. One, for the Grand Theatre in Birmingham, for the week commencing Monday 19 June 1911, suggests an even more varied performance, with the usual plays, orchestras and comedians but with the addition of the Juggling McBanns, Speedwell ‘the wizard painter’, and ‘an American bioscope’ (cinema newsreels, we think). Interestingly, Irene Millar, ‘the new star comedienne’, appeared, so must have been making her debut at about this time. Admission prices were similar, from 10s 6d for a box to 3d in the gallery.
Of course, then as now, these programmes are opportunities for local businesses to advertise their services and products. Using the Finsbury Park Empire programme as an example, there is hardly room for the performance details, with these squeezed between adverts for newsagents, funeral directors, restaurants, a driving school and much more. Our favourite is the one for the ‘rustless’ corset. The mind boggles.
The programmes have been printed, for the most part, on cheap paper and are all delicate, the posters particularly so. We’ll keep them safe here. If you wanted to help us catalogue these – is theatre history your thing? – get in touch on volunteering@richardrobertsarchive.org.uk.
