| Collection | Melville Theatre Collection |
| Description | As with the playbills in the Melville collection, the most heavily represented theatres are the Grand Theatre, Brighton and the Lyceum Theatre and also Drury Lane. The most predominant genre of production in this section is the pantomime. Contains numerous programmes from various locations, including Melville pantomimes and more general productions including the programme for the farewell visit of Henry Irving to Sunderland, and some of Augustus Harris' Drury Lane pantomimes.
Theatre programmes provided another form of publicity for productions. The Melvilles' close links with the Grand Theatre in Brighton and the Lyceum led to the accumulation of many programmes from these theatres, but Drury Lane pantomimes are also prevelant in this section, demonstrating the interchange of ideas in the theatrical community. |