What are the opening hours?

Monday 12pm - 4:45pm Tuesday 9:30am - 4:45pm Wednesday 9:30am - 4:45pm Thursday 9:30am - 4:45pm Friday 9:30am - 4:45pm

University of Bristol Theatre Collection

Name: University of Bristol Theatre Collection
Address: Vandyck Building, 21 Park Row, Bristol, BS15LT, GB
Telephone: +44 (0)117 331 5086
Price range: Not applicable

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University of Bristol Theatre Collection

Our collections are stored over two sites, so to avoid disappointment, please contact us on [email protected] in advance of your visit.

The Theatre Collection is one of the world’s largest archives of British Theatre and Live Art and is an accredited museum and international research facility open to all. Founded in 1951 to serve the first UK university Drama Department, our collections cover the period from 1572 to the 21st century and our visitors include everyone from international scholars to family historians. Key collections

include the Mander & Mitchenson Collection, London Old Vic archive, Bristol Old Vic archive and the Live Art Archives. For a full list of archives see: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/theatrecollection/collections.html. View a short film about the Theatre Collection at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg5QxPLX9PA.

26/08/2026

It's International Dog Day! Woof Woof! 🐕

Please enjoy these lovely snaps of Katharine Hepburn and her puppy pals!

These photos are from a scrapbook made by Oliver Messel during his time in Holywood while working on the set of Romeo and Juliet (1936).

🐶Dogs in order of appearance: Button the poodle, Peter the spaniel, Mica the spaniel and unidentified jack russel! 🐶

21/08/2026

🌟Object of the month🌟

This is a photo album compiled by Oliver Messel during his time in Holywood working as the set and costume designer for the film Romeo and Juliet (1936)🌹

The album contains a lovely mix of formal and informal snaps that show both behind the scenes of filming, as well as Oliver’s time hanging out with friends during his time off.

[Ref_no: OHM/3/1/5]

19/08/2026

*Programme of the Month* 🚨🥳
As you may already know, we have an extensive collection of programmes, all catalogued under the reference number PR/no. The numbers go well into the thousands, but for August's we thought we would feature PR/1!
This programmes for Mrs Warren's Profession comes from the Theatre Royale Bristol in 1943. It's not the oldest programme in our collection, not the first alphabetically. But it gets the honour of having the first reference number!

08/08/2026

For we're sharing Oliver Messel's costume design for the White Cat in Sleeping Beatuy. What do you think? Would your cat willingly wear a feathered hat?
Oliver Messel designed many costumes for ballet, film and theatre. His designs now reside within our collection and can be veiwed in our Reading Room 😀 Send us an email to find out more!

Ref no: OHM/1/2/4/2/42

03/08/2026

Congratulation to Andrew McCaldon who is this year's Kevin Elyot Award Winner!🌟

Andrew McCaldon is a dramatist based in Hove. His two music-dramas, Gershwin & Miss Swift, and the 2024 Imison Award winner, Benny & Hitch, were both staged at the Alexandra Palace Theatre, London, and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

“Elyot’s dramas for stage and screen – with music running and resonating through their DNA – have always inspired me, so I can’t wait to take a deep dive into his creative process and, especially, the music and musicality of his writing.

I’m looking forward to exploring this vital, sensual aspect of Elyot’s craft in a series of workshops and, as I delve into the treasure trove of archive material, developing a new drama of my own, also with music at its heart.” 🎶

We're excited to welcome Andrew to the Theatre Collection and see what he creates! 🤗

31/07/2026

If you're off on holiday this summer, don't forget to send a postcard home. You never know, it might end up in an archive one day!

☀️

24/07/2026

Me when I visit the archive Object Store 👀

22/07/2026

July’s ✨ Object of the Month ✨

Our biggest set model to date - the Bristol Old Vic!

The building itself dates back to 1766(!!), but its iconic front-of-house space was refurbished in 2018.

This model was created during this time to give the public an idea of what the new space might look like.

It’s was challenging to transport it from the BOV to our archive and it’s the only item I’ve received that comes with it’s own manual on how to piece it together!

The perfect item for this month’s Explore Your Archive theme 🧱architecture🧱

Phew! The shelf was just big enough..! 😅

Before any item goes into our archive stores, it must be cleaned. The red thing on the table is our special museum-quality vacuum! 🤗

This item had been on display in the BOV foyer for a number of years and was quite dusty 🧹🧹

10/07/2026

Incredible floor length velvet jacket worn by Richard Burton in the Old Vic’s production of King John in 1953 🌟😍

Can you imagine how sweaty you’d be wearing this 🥵

Address

Vandyck Building, 21 Park Row
Bristol
BS15LT

Opening Hours

Monday	12pm - 4:45pm
Tuesday	9:30am - 4:45pm
Wednesday	9:30am - 4:45pm
Thursday	9:30am - 4:45pm
Friday	9:30am - 4:45pm

Telephone

+44 (0)117 331 5086

Website

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/theatrecollection

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