Room 103: Theatre & Performance entrance
This area introduces the unique scale and range of performance genres collected by the Theatre and Performance Depa…
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Room 104: Theatre & Performance temporary exhibitions
A temporary exhibition space for Theatre and Performance exhibitions. The space also has interactive touch screens…
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Room 104a: Experiencing Theatre & Performance
This room explores the role of the audience. Visitors can watch clips from the National Video Archive of Performanc…
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Room 104b: Designing
Stage models, sketches and paintings explain the role of the designer and their processes. On show are one of the e…
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Room 105: Costume
This section features costumes worn on stage by leading actors such as Richard Burton as Henry V and Laurence Olivi…
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Room 106: Make Up
This section looks at the process and history of stage make-up, leading into the beginning of the performance costu…
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Room 106a: Creating & Producing
In this area visitors can learn about the processes behind productions like 'The Miracle', 'Hamlet' and 'Jesus Chr…
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Room 106b: Rehearsing & Promoting
On display in this area are highlights from Theatre and Performance's poster collection spanning the last 250 years…
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Elizabethan theatre
In the late 16th century all classes of society (apart from royalty) visited the public theatres. The new theatres were popular and their audiences had a voracious appetite for new plays. New companies flourished and writers were employed to satisfy the demand for novelty.
West End theatre between the Wars
During the 1920s and 1930s West End theatres were, for the most part, impoverished by the Depression and remained conservative both in the content of their work and the staging. Innovation and experimentation was restricted to the smaller club theatres and new repertory theatres.
Modern theatre: 'In Yer Face' theatre
'In Yer Face' theatre describes the wave of new writing in the 1990s that was aggressive, raw, confrontational and angry. Designed to assault the audience's sensibilities it explored the gut-wrenching extremes of the human condition and rammed the most extreme excesses of contemporary society down its throat. Many of the characters are morally reprehensible and the language is aggressive and raw.
Theatre design reading list
Recommended reading list about theatre design
Researching theatre and performance
Recommended resources about the performing arts within the V&A's Theatre and Performance Collections and elsewhere, and advice on how to research theatre and performance.
British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age
31 March–12 August 2012
Showcasing over 300 British design objects, this exhibition celebrates the best of British post-war art and design from the 1948 ‘Austerity Games' to the summer of 2012.
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Event - Theatre & Performance Galleries Tour
Fri 19 February 2010–Mon 31 December 2012
TOUR: Take a guided tour of the V&A's exciting theatre and performance collections, including rock & pop posters, theatre and ballet costumes, puppets, stage sets and more! See new costumes from the Lion King now on display.
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