Selection process
The project aim was to digitise material to compliment prevailing research subject areas in the UK academic community. The Advisory Panel initially identified specific narratives or selection criteria; these were expanded upon during the course of archival surveys by the V & A Theatre Collections and the UEL Archives.
10,000 items digitised for the ELTA project are selected from the V & A material on East London, and include a large number of playbills, mainly relating to the Britannia Theatre, Pavilion Theatre and the Standard Theatre. In addition smaller batches of items from a number of other East London theatres have also been digitised, including Bow Palace, Blackfriars Theatre, Dalston Theatre, East Ham Palace and Stratford Empire. The date range is from circa 1827 up to the mid-1930s.
Aside from these items, other material digitised for the ELTA website includes press cuttings, 1970s archaeological photographs of Wilton's Music Hall, 19th century playtexts, a scrapbook for the Brunswick Theatre (1828), selected London Pavilion Engagement books, a review book of variety acts from the London Pavilion Company, issues of The Performer magazine, and Frank Matcham architectural plans for Hackney Empire.
The V&A Theatre Collections team produced themed essays to compliment the digitised material sourced from the V & A, which can be found in the Themes area of the ELTA website. These are offered to create a rounded learning experience.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) played a key role in determining which archive items could be put forward for digitisation by the project, particularly with the more modern material handled by UEL. It was not always possible to identify the IPR owner, or trace relevant contact details. In these instances the items could not be digitised, and secondary surveys took place to identify suitable substitute material.
East London Theatre Archive
