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Albert Finney as Hamlet, black and White photograph, 1975. Photograph by Anthony Crickmay

Albert Finney as Hamlet, black and White photograph, 1975. Photograph by Anthony Crickmay

COLLECTIONS

Theatre & Performance

The V&A's Theatre Collections hold the UK's
national collection of material about live
performance in the UK since Shakespeare's
day, covering drama, dance, musical theatre,
circus, music hall, rock and pop, and other
forms of live entertainment.

Theatre and Performance galleries dedicated
to the performing arts, display works of art,
costumes, ephemera, video recordings,
puppets, posters and photographs.

Check gallery closures list

 

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Putting on a pantomime horse costume

TheatreLab

Workshops providing students with the opportunity to explore the creative process of performance and experience the richness of the V&A collections live.

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Costume for Pluto in Offenbach's operetta 'Orpheus in the Underworld', London, 1985 Museum no. S.788:1/4-1991

Stage Costume

This resource looks at the art and science of designing, making and wearing stage costumes, with detailed examples of items from the V&A Theatre Collections.

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Detail of costume for 'The Firebird' by Leon Bakst

Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes

Serge Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes 1909-1929, the work of the company and its cultural impact on 20th century design, choreography, music and art.

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Theatrevoice mouth logo

Theatrevoice

Theatrevoice is managed by V&A Theatre and Performance Department and Rose Bruford College and is the leading site for audio content about British theatre. It features journalists and practitioners from across the theatre industry. It was set up in 2003 to encourage theatre to be talked about in a new way, allowing critics to be more expansive than the usual space constraints of print media.

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