Late 20th century posters

Cinema and television brought images of performers into the home in the 1950s and encouraged photographs of stars on theatre posters as on film posters.

  • Variety poster Shepherds Bush Empire



    Variety poster
    Shepherds Bush Empire, London
    22 October, 1951
    Printed by Tribe Brothers Ltd
    Museum no. S.118-2002
    © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

    This is typical of the style of variety posters of the 1950s, with red and black lettering and the names of the performers separated in boxes. The size of the box for performers’ names depended on their fame. This twice-nightly show which was to be broadcast live on the radio on the Tuesday night. Lee Lawrence, billed as 'Britain's outstanding singing star', gets the biggest box, with a 26-year old comic, 'Radio's Peter Sellers', a close second. By October 1951 Peter Sellers had made his name in several BBC radio shows including Show Time, It's Fine to be Young, and Ray's a Laugh. In May 1951 he first appeared in another radio show called Crazy People with Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe. By the second series in 1952 the title was changed to The Goon Show. The performers who get one of the two smallest boxes on the bottom of the bill are Morecambe & Wise, later to become hugely successful on British television with The Morecambe and Wise Show.

  • Theatre poster for The Mousetrap



    Theatre poster for The Mousetrap
    Ambassadors Theatre, London
    1953
    Museum no. S.69-2008
    © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

    After the World War II, when the West End opened all its theatres again and paper was no longer such a precious commodity, theatre posters became larger, and many used photographs. This 1953 poster for the original production of a new play called The Mousetrap features photographs of the stars Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim. Richard Attenborough made his name while still training at RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) when he got his first film role as a cowardly sailor in the 1942 film In Which We Serve. In 1945 he married Sheila Sim, who by 1951 had also made films. Their appearance together in The Mousetrap was celebrity casting. By featuring their photographs on the poster, the producer Peter Saunders knew he had a good chance of attracting an audience. Now The Mousetrap needs little publicity because it is a phenomenon - the longest running play on the West End. As Richard Attenborough has said: 'It is like a London institution - like the ravens in the Tower of London'.

  • Poster for the English National Opera Company



    Poster for the English National Opera Company at the London Coliseum
    Designed by Sue Coffey at ENO Graphic Design Studio
    1989
    Museum no. S.2806-1995
    © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

    Unusual poster campaigns selling bras or cars quite often cause a stir in the press, but unusual theatre poster campaigns are a rarity. A series of posters for the English National Opera were an exception in the 1980s, when it produced a corporate poster campaign aimed at promoting its opera as something accessible, that everybody can enjoy. This was not a campaign dreamed up by an agency, but an in-house campaign - the result of brain-storming between the marketing and press departments at ENO. They wanted a series of posters focusing on people who worked behind the scenes, including the bar staff, the programme sellers, and as here, the flyman, shown with ropes that hoist scenic cloths. The focus is on him, lit dramatically and photographed by the master of dance photography, Anthony Crickmay. The poster mentions the opening date of The Love of Three Oranges, but the main focus of this poster is certainly Micky Titchmarsh, who gets the credit on this poster which he never had in a theatre programme.

  • Theatre poster for This is Our Youth



    Theatre poster for This is Our Youth
    Garrick Theatre, London
    2002
    Museum no. S.43-2003
    © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

    This advertised the second cast of the American play This Is Our Youth at the Garrick Theatre in 2002. Its design makes little reference to the plot of the play but concentrates on the star actors Casey Affleck, Matt Damon and Summer Phoenix. They stand against a whitewashed wall, looking intently at the viewer, the title apparently sprayed as graffiti. The play is about three college friends, Dennis, Warren and Jessica. The action takes place in 1982 in Dennis’ Manhattan flat, following Warren’s theft of money from his father. With a theme of drugs and youth, the play was relevant to young audiences and changed its casts frequently. A new poster was issued for each cast, featuring photographs of the stars who were better known for their film or television roles than their stage work. By featuring their photographs, the poster attracted a new audience to the theatre, lured more by the chance of seeing the stars live than by seeing Kenneth Lonergan’s first play.

  • Theatre poster Up for Grabs



    Theatre poster for Up for Grabs
    Wyndhams Theatre, London
    2003
    © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

    The designer for this poster was in the enviable position of knowing that the poster did not have to sell tickets. It starred Madonna in her West End debut, it was only on for a limited run from May to July 2002 and tickets would sell out as soon as it was announced in the press. Many of today's West End productions cast stars and their photographs appear on the poster to attract an audience. Because Madonna is such a huge star, the designer deliberately chose to do something different and to use a sophisticated, anonymous image to tease the viewer. A seductive photograph was chosen of a naked female sitting on a sun-bed, leading to much press interest as to whether this was Madonna or not. The designer also wanted space round the image, to feature the names in black ink on a white background. Once again, he flouted the usual practice of star billing and Madonna's name appears in just the same sized letters as the other members of the cast.

Tags: