Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

Monthly weekend opening - Life on the London Stage

This event has finished Took place on: Saturday, 12th Aug 2017

 Free

This exhibition is open Mon-Thur, but only on a Saturday once per month.

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Life on the London Stage is a new exhibition at London Metropolitan Archives which uncovers the lives of some of the actors and actresses recorded in our archives, capturing both professional and personal details that provide a glimpse of the challenges and joys of theatrical life since the days of Elizabeth I.

Drawing on a wide variety of photographs, prints and documents, we have brought together a collection of stories which illustrate different aspects of the lives of London’s performers, from those who achieved great success to those who endured poverty and hardship.

Documents recording the life of Edmund Shakespeare, William’s forgotten brother, appear together for the first time presenting the seemingly tragic story of the young actor who followed his older brother to London.

Ledgers and letters document the lives of some of London’s most celebrated stars, including Kenneth Williams, Dame Ellen Terry and Eliza (Madam) Vestris. The houses associated with Nell Gwyn, surely one of London’s greatest rags to riches stories, are presented alongside Sir Laurence Olivier’s bespoke orders from one of the capital’s most prestigious boot makers.

There are also those who were recorded by London’s authorities for less salubrious reasons, notably the actor Gabriel Spencer who fought a series of bloody duels in 1590s Shoreditch and Marie Lloyd, who alarmed the Victorian authorities with her music hall routines.

Of course, alongside the famous names that live on through generations are huge numbers of working performers who have graced the London stage since the first theatre was built in London in 1576 but are largely forgotten today. They are remembered here in our displays of programmes and playbills.


Contact and Booking Details

This event has finished Took place on: Saturday, 12th Aug 2017

 Free

Booking details and information at this website.

No need to book tickets - just turn up on the day.

Disclaimer: All information given is correct at the time of compiling the listings. Any questions about the event should be directed to the event organiser. Photos and images used in this listing are supplied by the organiser.

2017-08-12 2017-08-12 Europe/London Monthly weekend opening - Life on the London Stage An exhibition that provides a glimpse of the challenges and joys of theatrical life since the days of Elizabeth I. https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/calendar/2017/08/12/monthly-weekend-opening-life-on-the-london-stage-151169 London Metropolitan Archives,40 Northampton Road,,London

Location

London Metropolitan Archives,

40 Northampton Road,
London,
EC1R 0HB

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