Papers regarding the Birmingham Repertory Theatre

1917-1960

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre of Birmingham, England, was founded on February 15, 1913, by Sir Barry Jackson (1879-1961), who was knighted in 1925 for services to theater. From the beginning, the Theatre's repertoire was extraordinarily wide, including Greek drama, medieval morality plays, Shakespeare in both traditional costume and modern dress, farce comedy and experimental works. A new building was designed and constructed in the 1970s. Consists of photocopied correspondence to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, much of it addressed to theatre administrator Cyril Phillips, the bulk of it concerning the Theatre's 25th anniversary celebration in 1938. A number of letters from George Bernard Shaw, all dated 1923, concern an imminent production of his play BACK TO METHUSELAH. There is also a photostat of a contract with Shaw, dated 1917, granting production rights to several of his plays. Other correspondents include J. B. Priestley, Peggy Ashcroft, Errol Flynn, Robert Donat, Stanley Lupino, Brian Ahern, and Somerset Maugham.