Volunteers get hands-on


Theatre and Performance
August 18, 2015

As Cataloguer on the Peter Brook project, I’ve been responsible not only for cataloguing the Peter Brook Collection but also helping to, recruit, train and co-ordinate two teams of volunteers. The collection was purchased with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and a private donor and a key part of our application to the HLF was ensuring that we provided access to the nation’s heritage in a range of ways, both through a published catalogue, but also by training people in hands-on archival and curatorial skills.

Volunteeers cleaning scrapbooks
Volunteeers cleaning scrapbooks

The volunteers were given the opportunity to learn about the preservation of cultural heritage, both physical and digital, through a structured programme of activities. They could participate in a number of different activities and training sessions which included paper handling and basic conservation, oral history interviews, digitisation, translation and editing and enhancing Peter Brook related Wikipedia entries. We were surprised by the number of people who were eager to help us with the project – over 120 applicants! It’s fantastic that so many people were interested in Peter Brook and willing to give their time to this exciting project. We tried to give as many people as possible the opportunity to be involved in these different strands of the project and recruited different teams to work on different aspects..

Volunteers rehousing photographs
Volunteers rehousing photographs

From January to March, a group of volunteers worked with me on archival tasks. First, we trained the volunteers on how best to clean and properly handle archival material. During this phase, volunteers helped to list, sort, clean and rehouse material. They removed rusty paper clips and staples, sorted newspaper cuttings chronologically, rehoused photographs into polyester sleeves, sorted programmes and listed them. These steps not only helped me with the cataloguing, but will also help preserve the collection for future generations and make it accessible to the wider public. This phase of the project increased the volunteers’ understanding of how paper heritage material is conserved and catalogued.

Wikipedia training with Edward Hand
Wikipedia training with Edward Hand

During the past few months, a new group of volunteers have been helping with translating correspondence in French, German, Russian and Italian into English. In addition, they learnt about the principles of digitization and how we go about selecting material for Search the Collections. They also learnt about intellectual property rights and what’s involved when it comes to clearing copyright. Recently, the volunteers have edited and enhanced Peter Brook entries on Wikipedia . Here is our training page which shows some of the entries which we edited: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:V%26A_Peter_Brook_editathon,_20_July_2015 .   These include https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_%28play%29   and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Empty_Space

Wikipedia training
Wikipedia training

They have also been conducting oral history interviews with people who work/worked with or viewed Peter Brook’s work. These tasks are essential in interpreting the material and increasing access to the Peter Brook collection. It also provided volunteers with the opportunity to learn more not only about Peter Brook but how heritage material is made available to different audiences.

Volunteer presentation in preparation for oral history interviews
Volunteer presentation in preparation for oral history interviews

The volunteers have engaged with Britain’s theatre history and also discovered more about Peter Brook’s life and career. They’ve gained an understanding of how archives work and now appreciate what’s involved when cataloguing an archive. I think the HLF project also provided the volunteers with a wonderful opportunity to discover the heritage of Peter Brook and learn about his working methods and long career. In addition, the project has taught them how heritage material is conserved, catalogued, digitised and made available to different audiences through online resources. I hope the skills and knowledge they’ve developed will be useful in their future careers as archivists, curators, conservators, or theatre practitioners. Lastly, it’s been a wonderful opportunity for people with a passion for theatre and heritage to make a real difference.


We are grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for their generous support of this project.

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About the author


Theatre and Performance
August 18, 2015

Currently cataloguing the Peter Brook Collection. I’m hoping to blog regularly about my discoveries in the Peter Brook Collection so please keep an eye on the V&A Blog to see...

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