Collection consists of performing arts programmes and promotional material documenting both amateur and professional performing arts across Canada. The emphasis is on theatre, but included is material on dance, music, and other public entertainments. The material includes historical playbills and broadsides as well as modern day programmes, calendars, press releases, posters and still photographs.
The collection also contains posters depicting various plays and productions performed at venues across Canada.
In addition, the collection includes photographic material depicting drama, opera, ballet, and music productions across Canada; portrait of Brian Richmond, Artistic Director, Magnus Theatre, Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Collection also includes a sound recording of promotional material for a show entitled A trip to the farm.
Canada. Performing Arts : In 1972, the National Archives of Canada began a project to assemble performing arts programmes and promotional material from a variety of sources in an effort to preserve Canadian performing arts ephemera for historical research. At the beginning, selected theatres sent the National Archives collections of back materials as well as current programmes and publicity material, some of which was sent on a monthly basis, some at the end of each season, and some when the theatres remembered. In 1980, an effort was made to be more comprehensive in collecting this material and approximately 190 performing arts centres and companies across Canada were contacted with the request that the National Archives be placed on their mailing lists. As a result, the Archives began receiving programmes and publicity material, including press releases, monthly calendars, posters and publicity stills, on a more regular basis. Throughout the period, small collections of privately collected playbills were received from various individual donors and occasionally items were purchased through dealers, and this material, too, was added to the collection. In 1986, in another effort to build the Performing Arts Collection, old contacts were renewed and new centres and companies were contacted, with a total of some 350 organizations being approached for material. In 1995, however, as a result of cutbacks in resources at the National Archives, the decision was taken to discontinue the collection of performing arts ephemera and to concentrate instead on the preservation of selected individual and organizational archival fonds.
