English Playbills
University of Alberta Library acquired a large collection of historic theatre playbills for study and research in the Department of Drama between the late 1960s and the early 1980s. This collection, more than 800 playbills and a handful of programs, helps to document many of the performances staged in the major playhouses in the United Kingdom from 1779 through 1949. It provides a wealth of information about dramatic performances, ranging from the plays, playwrights, and actors to theatres, dates, and ticket prices, and is of potential interest not only for the study of drama, but for the study of book history and graphic design.
Getting started: Most student researchers will want to employ a series of keyword searches in the University of Alberta Library catalogue in order to find relevant print and digital materials in all U of A library locations and collections, including the Peel library. To explore the playbills in this collection online, researchers can use the Internet Archive, which in this case also functions as a kind of a finding aid for those who wish to examine the print originals. For more information about research in the Peel library, see Finding and Requesting Peel Library Materials.
Collection Formats: 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Ephemera -- click to see other collections with this format
Playbill for Faustus to be shown with other entertainments, including a ballet and a farce, at the New Theatre Royal in Drury Lane in 1825.
Playbill for free performances of The Hunchback by James Sheridan Knowles at the Royal Lyceum Theatre.
Playbill announcing William Macready's farewell performances, reprising his most famous roles including the titular characters in Shakespeare's Macbeth, Othello, and King Lear, at Theatre Royal in Haymarket, [1851].
Playbill announcing "Mrs Twisleton's Night," celebrating her performance as Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, to be followed by a ballet and a comic opera, at the New Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, 1794.
Playbill announcing one last "Juvenile Night," in response to demand, featuring Blue Beard; or, Female Curiousity at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden, 1843.