Collecting Theatre, Curating Shakespeare

This panel discussion will explore the process of curating live performance through objects, archives and recordings. Speakers include Simon Sladen, V&A Senior Curator of Theatre and Performance, Dorothea Volz, Director of the German Theatre Museum, Emily Harris, V&A Curator of Film and Elsa-Sophie Jach, resident director at the Residenztheater, Munich. 

At the heart of the German Theatre Museum's exhibition 'making THEATRE' lies the process of live curation. From 2024 to 2025, the curatorial team accompanied theatre-makers in real time, observing rehearsals, attending production meetings, speaking with departments, and collecting material at the moment of its creation. Objects moved directly from the theatre into the museum, capturing the immediacy, fragility, and constant transformation that define theatre-making.

In discussion with V&A curators, this panel will explore ways of collecting and curating live performance.

Supported by the Colwinston Charitable Trust