East London Theatre Archive (ELTA)

A treasure trove of material for anyone with an interest in history, advertising and, of course, the performing arts - this archive holds material from some of East London’s most famous theatres, including Theatre Royal Stratford East, Hackney Empire, Wilton’s Music Hall and the Half Moon Young People’s Theatre, with over 100 theatres currently represented in the archive.

The digitised collections of The Theatre Museum – whose Covent Garden home closed in 2007 - are owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum and are also available via this archive. Resources range from the expected – playbills, posters and photographs – to the theatrical and unusual – stage cloths, woodcuts, rehearsal notes and perfumed programmes.

How can this collection be used in teaching, studying and research?

This collection offers those studying, teaching or researching the performing arts, the history of London, advertising, media production or social history a rich source of secondary information to enhance their work.

A variety of themed essays are available - topics include ‘Women in the 19th Century Theatre’, ‘Local Interest’ and ‘Music Hall and Variety’ – a type of theatre the East End became particularly well-known for producing when Music Hall’s popularity was at its zenith.

Highlights from this collection

The original architectural plans for the Hackney Empire, created in 1900, and details of a 1979 appeal by Liza Minnelli to restore Wilton’s Music Hall – one of London’s most vivacious and long-standing theatrical venues.