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Hackney Empire Archive: `Performing the Archive’ Module

Hackney Empire Archive: `Performing the Archive’ Module. By Paul V. Dudman Archivist. Introduction. Learning Outcomes:- What are Archives? Introduction to the Archives held at UEL Accessing the Archives The East London Theatre Archive website The Hackney Empire Archive

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Hackney Empire Archive: `Performing the Archive’ Module

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  1. Hackney Empire Archive: `Performing the Archive’ Module By Paul V. Dudman Archivist

  2. Introduction • Learning Outcomes:- • What are Archives? • Introduction to the Archives held at UEL • Accessing the Archives • The East London Theatre Archive website • The Hackney Empire Archive • Hands-on Session for Looking at a Selection of Archival records

  3. Practical Matters • UEL Campus Archives at located at Both Docklands and Stratford Libraries, and online. • All Archive Material is Reference only. • Archives can only be accessed when a member of staff is available. • Photocopying subject to approval by a member of staff • ID Card – needed to access Archive reading rooms on both campuses

  4. What Are Archives? • Archives are primary source materials that have been created by individuals, groups or organisations during the course of their life or work and deemed to be worth keeping permanently for the purposes of research. • Archives are often perceived to be dusty old manuscripts stored in a forgotten basement! However, Archives can consist of records of any age, from ancient manuscripts right through to contemporary digital records and can be in any format. Archives act as our cultural and social memory, recording our personal, social, economic and political activities throughout history, and they provide the primary evidence on which our history is based.

  5. Primary vs Secondary! (Or Archive vs Library!). • An Archive will normally consist of primary source materials; namely records which are written at the time of the events they describe and which normally provide a first-hand account of the events being witnessed. Examples would include letters, diaries, minutes of meetings and account books. These materials are often created by individuals or institutions in the course of undertaking their daily work or private affairs, often without an awareness that they will eventually be stored within an Archive. In essence, these are unpublished materials. • Libraries, by contrast, will usually consist of Secondary source materials, like books and journals for example. These are normally written after the event and utilise the existing primary I materials in order to make observations and to draw conclusions. are not based on direct observation, and are usually written after the event. They often use primary sources in order to make observations and conclusions. Typical secondary sources include articles and books. These materials are often written with the intention they will be read by external readers. In contrast to the Archive, this material is often written specifically for publication.

  6. Archives and Provenance as a Source of Evidence. • Provenance plays an important role in relation to the Archive, as it enables an evidential value to be placed on surviving archival collections. • Provenance records the origins and history of something over time. Archival materials which share a common provenance were created or brought together by an individual or an organisation over time, and were deemed important enough to be kept and stored, so they now share a common provenance, or history. • This sense of history gives the surviving material an important evidential value. The collection of materials provides first-hand evidence of someone's life or work, or how a particular business or organisation was organised and managed. The voices of real people are documented in real time, without the benefit of hindsight, providing evidence of how they felt and what they thought!

  7. Stratford Archive • Located in the new Stratford Campus Library • Currently contains the Hackney Empire Theatre Archive • Access to Hackney Empire Archive by prior appointment: • Contact:- • Paul DudmanArchivist • P.v.dudman@uel.ac.uk or • 020 8223 7676 Stratford Archive Reading Room Stratford Archive

  8. Archive Opening Hours • Opening Hours for Semester B 2014. • Docklands: • Monday to Thursday/Friday: 1pm to 6pm • Sat/Sun: Closed • Stratford: • By Prior Appointment only and dependent upon Staff and Reading Room Availability. • There is only One Archivist responsible for both Campus Archives and the ST Archive is often booked for training purposes. • As module taught on a Tuesday, I could make appointments on Tuesday afternoons subject to staff/room availability. • Alternatively on a Friday, subject to availability.

  9. Accessing the Archives 1 • The Archives will normally only be open during the advertised Staffed Hours • Our aim is for the Docklands Archive to be open on a drop-in basis during the advertised opening hours. • For Stratford, you WILL need to make an appointment if you need to use the Archive on a certain day/time. • To make an appointment, contact Paul Dudman on p.v.dudman@uel.ac.uk

  10. Accessing the Archives 2 • When visiting the Archive, please remember to sign the Visitors Book. • This helps is to keep track of how the Archive is used and will help to improve our service to you!

  11. Physical Collections Held • Stratford Campus • Hackney Empire Theatre Archive • Docklands Campus • Refugee Archive Collections • Inc. Refugee Council Archive; Northern Refugee Centre Archive, & UNHCR Audio-Visual Collection, CARA Archive. • British Olympic Association Archive & Library • Eastside Community Heritage Oral History Collection • UEL Institutional Archive • Oversize Hackney Empire Posters

  12. Digital Collections • East London Theatre Archive Project • Available at: www.elta-project.org/home.html • East London Legacy 2012 • Available at: www.uel.ac.uk/ell2012/ • ROAR – UEL’s Institutional Repository • Available at: http://roar.uel.ac.uk/ East London Theatre Archive Project Links

  13. East London Theatre Archive (ELTA) • East London Theatre Archive (ELTA) is an online database of East London theatre ephemera provided by the V & A Theatre Collections, East London theatres and UEL archives. • ELTA's collection ranges from 1827 to the present day, including playbills and programmes to press cuttings and photographs. It also has themed essays to contextualise the material and maps showing theatre locations.

  14. ELTA Project Partners • ELTA Online contains online archival material from the following Project Partners: • Cartoon Archetypical Slogan Theatre (CAST) • Hackney Empire • Half Moon Young People's Theatre • Hoxton Hall • Theatre Royal Stratford East • Theatre Venture • Wilton's Music Hall

  15. ELTA (Continued) • The UEL project team were responsible for the surveying, selection and creation of 4,601 images of archive material and related metadata sourced from a number of different collections, as well as digitisation. • The majority of material digitised by UEL dates from the 1970s to 2008 with the exception of a small number of 19th century playbills from Hoxton Hall. The surveying process revealed that, with the exception of items sourced from Theatre Royal Stratford East, little material dating from before the 1970s had survived the passage of time.

  16. OTHA Website (www.otha.org.uk) • The Online Theatre Histories Archive (OTHA) website is currently offline for ongoing technical reasons. • The OTHA project has explored how a pre-existing archive, the ELTA - East London Theatre Archive, is used in teaching at three partner institutions, the Institute of Performing Arts Development at UEL and the Royal Holloway College (University of London), the University of Sheffield and the University of Nottingham.

  17. History of Hackney Empire • The Hackney Empire was built as a music hall in 1901, designed by the architect Frank Matcham. • In 1956 the theatre was sold to ATV and it became the first commercial television studios in Britain. • In 1963 MECCA purchased the theatre and converted it into a bingo hall. In 1984, the Theatre gained a Grade II* listing and as the interior was also listed, MECCA were unable to alter the original, formal theatre seating arrangement which had become increasingly unsuitable for its bingo playing audience. • MECCA then offered the theatre to CAST New Variety as a permanent London base. Assisted by the London Borough of Hackney, Hackney Empire Preservation Trust (founded by the Muldoons and others in October 1986) eventually acquired the freehold from MECCA Ltd for the price of £150,000 on the understanding that they returned the building to its former use as a Theatre.

  18. Hackney Empire Archive • What Does the Hackney Empire Archive Contain: • c35 shelves and c400 posters • Date Range: 1962-2009 • Material created by: • Roland Muldoon Cartoon Archetypical Slogan Theatre, (CAST). • CAST New Variety Ltd / New Variety Performers Agency • Hackney Empire Theatre • Hackney New Variety Ltd • Hackney Empire Preservation Trust • Friends of Hackney Empire

  19. Hackney Empire Finding Aid • Archival Finding Aids for all our collections can be found on the Archives Hub at: • http://archiveshub.ac.uk/contributors/universityofeastlondon.html • Printed and PDF versions of the Hackney Empire finding aids are also available on request to the Archivist.

  20. CAST Troupe • Cartoon Archetypical Slogan Theatre (CAST) began in 1965, founded by members Roland Muldoon, Claire Burnley [later Muldoon], Raymond Levene and David Hatton. • CAST were a left wing theatre troupe producing shows which reflected the revolutionary struggles between young idealistic socialists and the English middle class.

  21. CAST and Hackney Empire 1 • After raising the funds to purchase the Hackney Empire and convert it back into a Theatre • The Hackney Empire opened once more as a 1000 seat theatre on 9 December 1986 as the home venue for CAST New Variety (under the name Hackney New Variety). CAST New Variety still continued to run the events in smaller locations where they encouraged new acts to perform beside more established artists. By 1986 CAST New Variety were running 250 Sunday shows a year in London.

  22. CAST and Hackney Empire 2 • Hackney Empire went on to establish itself as one of the leading stand-up comedy venues in Britain. In 2001, the Empire began a renovation and restoration project which was completed in January 2004. • These comedy nights helped to launch the careers of many no famous comedians including the likes of Paul Merton and Julian Clary.

  23. Hackney Empire Archive 1 • Broadly, the Hackney Empire contains the following Archival Materials: • Posters • Playbills • Scripts • Minutes of meetings, correspondence, financial records, publicity material,, tour schedules • Press Cuttings • Programmes for Hackney Empire Productions • Videos and Photographs

  24. Hackney Empire Archive 2 • Hackney Empire collection, 1962-2009, comprising: • Material relating to the CAST theatre troupe, 1962-1985, including: papers concerning Roland Muldoon's theatre training, membership of the Unity Theatre, drama classes at the Working Men's College, London, and the foundation of CAST, 1962-1969; correspondence, financial records, publicity material, scripts, press cuttings, tour schedules, photographs and audio recordings regarding CAST productions, 1966-1985, film reels of CAST film 'Planet of the Mugs', [1972]

  25. Hackney Empire Archive 3 • Material relating to CAST Presentations Ltd, CAST New Variety Ltd and New Variety Performers Agency, 1980-[mid 1990s], including: minutes of management meetings, 1982-1990; correspondence and other administrative material relating to the running of CAST New Variety, [1983]-1986; proposals seeking home venues for the CAST New Variety, 1980-1985; minutes, correspondence, reports and other material relating to Diorama Arts Ltd, 1984-1989; publicity material for comedians, musicians and other cabaret acts either for spots at CAST New Variety shows or representation by New Variety Performers Agency, 1983-[mid 1990s]; posters and flyers advertising CAST New Variety shows, [1983]-1986; financial records, 1980-1991

  26. Hackney Empire Archive 4 • Material relating to Hackney Empire Theatre and Hackney New Variety Ltd, 1986-2009, including: minutes of management meetings, 1988-2005 (very incomplete); correspondence, 1988-2004 (very incomplete); press cuttings, 1986-2007; posters and programmes for Hackney Empire productions, 1986-2009; photographs, video recordings and other material relating to New Act of the Year, 1991-[2000] (very incomplete).

  27. Web and Online Resources • We have developed online resources to help with supporting the work of the Archive. • Our main web site can be found at:- • www.uel.ac.uk/lls/search/collections/ • UEL Archives Blog • Available at:- uelarchives.wordpress.com/ • UEL Archives Twitter Feed: • Available at: @ArchivesUEL

  28. Contact Details - Docklands: • Paul Dudman, the Archivist, can be contacted as follows (Monday to Thursday): • 020 8223 7676 • p.v.dudman@uel.ac.uk / library-archives@uel.ac.uk / @PaulDudman • Docklands Campus Archive, Room BS.G.02, 4-6 University Way, London, E16 2RD Docklands Campus Docklands Campus

  29. Contact Details - Stratford: • Paul Dudman, the Archivist, can be contacted as follows (Friday): • 020 8223 4804 • p.v.dudman@uel.ac.uk / library-archives@uel.ac.uk / @PaulDudman • Stratford Campus Archive, Room SL.G.13a, Water Lane, London, E15 4LS     Stratford Campus Stratford Campus

  30. References 1 • The Archives Hub - Using Archives: A Guide for the Inexperienced (archiveshub.ac.uk/guides/usingarchives/). • Taking on the empire : how we saved the Hackney Empire for popular theatre. By Roland Muldoon (ST Library book - 792 MUL).

  31. References 2 • What are archives? : cultural and theoretical perspectives : a reader. By Louise Craven (DL Archives – QU9.2 CRA). • The Future of Archives and Recordkeeping A reader. By Jennie Hill. (DL Archives – QU9.2 HIL). • Community archives : the shaping of memory. Edited by Jeannette Allis Bastian; Ben Alexander. (DL Archives – QU9.2 BAS).

  32. Hands On Session • Session will finish with some time to investigate a selection of Hackney Empire archival materials made available in the Reading Room.

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