London's Theatre Museum May Not Close Next Month

Help may be on the way for London's esteemed Theatre Museum.

The Museum, which houses many theatrical treasures, has been in danger of closing next month.  However, the Victoria and Albert Museum, which owns the Theatre Museum, has discussed collaborating with the entertainment resort Blackpool on a National Theatre Museum.

"The V&A is committed to showing the theatrical collections to as wide an audience as possible. Blackpool has a strong theatrical and entertainment tradition and attracts millions of visitors a year. A new museum in Blackpool could provide a wonderful platform to tell the story of British Theatre," stated V&A Director Mark Jones.

If established, The National Theatre Musum would house the V&A's extensive collection of theatrical memorabilia, as well as host exhibitions and touring displays.  A feasibility study for the project is currently underway. 

An announcement of the Theatre Museum's probable closing came in September after a lack of funding dashed hopes of a collaboration between the V&A and the Royal Opera House.  Previously the Theatre Museum had been unable to receive lottery funding to upgrade its Covent Garden building (the Theatre Museum's current home). In the past few months, such British theatre stars as Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench have rallied to the museum's aid.   

"The Theatre Museum exists to increase the enjoyment, understanding and study of the history, craft and practice of the performing arts in Britain through its collections, which are the largest of their type in the world. The Theatre Museum collects a wide range of documents, artefacts and works of art which record the history of the performing arts in Britain from the sixteenth century to the present," state notes on the Museum's website. "Costumes, designs, manuscripts, books, video recordings, including the National Video Archive of Performance, posters and paintings all play their part in helping to reconstruct the details of past performances and the lives of performers, past and contemporary. All the live performing arts are represented, including drama, dance, opera, musical theatre, circus, puppetry, music hall and live art."

Visit www.theatremuseum.org.