History of the King's Theatre
We are delighted to present a collection of archival artefacts from the King's Theatre Archive, some dating back through its proud history as a cultural centre in Portsmouth and others retrieved more recently during the £2.5 million refurbishment to restore and maintain this culturally important Grade II listed historic building. The exhibition offers a journey through time, literally pulling back the surface of the theatre to reveal the secrets of its prefabricated construction to displays exploring the development of the theatre business in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, from spin-off industries such as home theatres to the rivalries between competing theatre companies and the dazzling speed and ingenuity of construction firms in replacing existing housing with a luxuriously appointed working theatre in scarcely more than a year, and the impact all this had on our local history.
This exhibition was curated by Dr Sue McClory and the team from the King's Theatre Archive.
Samples of historical wallpapers used in the King's Theatre
Historical interior design and furnishing of the King's Theatre.
Historical programmes from and journalistic reporting on the King's Theatre, together with details of the theatre's expansion.
Photographs documenting moulded interior design details together with actual sections of pre-fabricated hessian-reinforced plaster recovered during the refurbishment.
Seating fabric showing the original bright green and eventual worn colours of heavily used theatre seats.
Brass push plates from theatre doors, polished so rigorously and so many times that they were worn down to wafer-thin sheets by the time they were replaced.
Refurbishing a historic theatre requires a lot of gold leaf... only, which colour of gold leaf to choose?
Theatres were a major source of entertainment and very profitable in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Early theatre programmes. In later decades, programmes were produced with striking coloured cover designs that changed only around once every ten years up until the advent of modern design and production techniques.
Families would create and lovingly recreate plays in cardboard home theatres for their evening's entertainment. Cut out and paint theatres became a profitable spin-off industry that still exists today.