Guide to the Sharp Collection of theatre programs, March 1884-July 1911

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Summary

Collection number:

Sharp

Extent:

161 collections

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use this material should refer to the Ephemera PROMPT collection.

Citation of items from this collection should include references to author's/organisation's name, date, item title, Publisher and place of publication.

Example: J.C. Williamson (Firm). Theatre Royal (Adelaide, S.A.). 1950, Gilbert Sullivan opera season [theatre program] : The gondoliers J. C. Williamson Ltd [Adelaide]

Availability:

Available

Background

Content Summary:

The Sharp collection of programs from concerts, musicals, theatre, vaudeville staged primarily in Sydney documents the development of Australian theatre. Comprising 150 programs, the collection offers a sampling of theatre activities in Sydney, concentrating on the period 1898-1907.

Printed materials in the PROMPT collection include programs and printed ephemera such as brochures, leaflets, tickets, etc. Theatre programs are taken as the prime documentary evidence of a performance.

The list is based on imperfect holdings, and is updated as gaps in the Library's holdings are filled. Unless otherwise stated, all entries are based on published programs in the PROMPT collection.

Arrangement:

Programs in the National Library' PROMPT collection are arranged chronologically, then individually listed, chronologically by performance as follows: venue, City; name of production; date (day and month); company/manager/entrepreneur.

Performances for which only the year is known are listed after those with a more precise day and or month.

Custodial History:

These programs were colleced by Harry Sharp between 1884 and 1910. In 1884, Harry was a 22-year-old picture framer and gilder living in Leichhardt, in inner Sydney, with his wife Ada. The family later moved to Denham Court, 40 kilometres south-west of Sydney, and continued their patronage of Sydney's theatres, keeping the programs of the attractions they saw. Harry Sharp died in 1939, and the programs were re-discovered in 1992. The Sharp collection has been kept intact, providing both a document of one family's theatregoing and a snapshot of popular theatre in Sydney over a period of nearly 20 years. Sharp's theatrical tastes were eclectic, ranging from Wagner's operas to vaudeville at Rickards' Tivoli theatre, from Shakespearean tragedies to Australian melodramas such as Breaking of the Drought, and Robbery Under Arms. [Information taken from an article by Richard Stone, published in the NLA News in October 2003 - Volume XIII Number 14.]

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