LONDON/ Puppetry at the Victoria & Albert Museum
TOURS, COLLECTIONS, ARCHIVES, and ONLINE RESOURCES
The puppet-minded visitor to London should take advantage of the V&A’s daily Theatre & Performance Galleries FREE Guided Tour, including rock & pop posters, theatre and ballet costumes, puppets, stage sets and more. See the Museum's acquisition of the original West End Joey from the National Theatres award-winning production of War Horse, kindly donated by Handspring Puppet Company. This tour is available throughout 2014. Assemble at the Meeting Point, Grand Entrance, at 2pm. The tour lasts approximately 1 hour. http://www.vam.ac.uk/whatson/event/3019/theatre-and-performance-galleries-tour-4406/
The V&A’s national Theatre & Performance COLLECTION can be accessed, in person, by appointment. http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/p/puppet-resources-in-the-theatre-and-performance-collections/
The holdings include 243 puppets acquired as part of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild Archive, and glove puppets made and performed by Paul Hansard. The collection also includes a number of notable 19th century marionettes including the Tiller-Clowes troupe of 35 puppets, and the Jim Tiller collection of 25 marionettes. The V&A's national Theatre and Performance Collections can be accessed, BY APPOINTMENT, in the Archive & Library Study Room at Blythe House from Tuesday to Friday each week.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/archives-theatre-performance/
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/
And, wherever you are, there are some really useful resources, including video clips, freely available on the V&A website:
HISTORY OF PUPPETRY IN BRITAIN http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/h/history-of-puppetry-in-britain/
MARIONETTES
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/marionettes/
PUNCH & JUDY
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/thats-the-way-to-do-it!-a-history-of-punch-and-judy/
Opening times: 10.00 to 17.45 daily; 10.00 to 22.00 Friday
The Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
(PHOTO: V&A Collection – Juggler marionette, Tiller-Clowes Troupe, 1870s-1890s, Museum no. S.291-1999)
