Initial research: Theatrical Collections in Leeds

Copyright University of Leeds

During my initial research, I worked on two key collections:

‘Archive compiled by Alec Baron relating to theatrical life in Leeds from the late 1920s to the 1950s’
and,
‘West Yorkshire Playhouse (Leeds Playhouse) Archive’.

Both of these were brilliant collections with so much available including letters, scripts and advertisements for productions.

Looking at these collections in my preliminary research phase was helpful in allowing me to see the sources available to me. I wanted to write a research report based on case studies of three Leeds theatres. Considering the amount of Leeds theatres there have been it was difficult to narrow it down to three, but I chose to focus on: City Varieties, the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Slung Low HUB. Knowing there was a whole collection centred on the West Yorkshire Playhouse definitely influenced my decision. I wanted each case study to focus on something different, so for the West Yorkshire Playhouse I decided to focus on their Theatre in Education Company (TIE). Without the Playhouse archive I would have never known about the TIE, as it is now the Schools Touring Company and there is little to no information about it online.