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This museum, a branch of the
Victoria
& Albert Museum, celebrates the history of
modern theatre. Appropriately near the Theatre
Royal, Dury Lane, the West End's oldest theatre,
a large golden statue of the Spirit of Gaiety, from the long-vanished
Gaiety Theatre, welcomes you into the museum's basement galleries.
The galleries contain a collection
of theatrical memorabilia. Exhibits include playbills,
programmes, paintings of actors, costumes and props from historic
productions and scenes from plays.
Display cases show the history
of the theatre from Elizabethan times to the present day and
there are models of auditoriums through the ages.
Activities include daily make-up
demonstrations and costume workshops, and there are combined
tours of the museum and the Theatre Royal, giving visitors
a look at the backstage and understage areas of a working
theatre.
Temporary exhibitions are held
in the Gielgud and Irving galleries, and theatre companies
stage productions in the theatre inside.
The museum also houses the National
Video Archive of Stage Performance, access by appointment
only.
Admission free
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Covent Garden