ArenaPAL - The Performing Arts Library - Image Blog

Lest We Forget: WW1 - The Birmingham Rep on the home front

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 13:46:00 +0000

A rare glimpse into life on the home front has been discovered in the Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson archive based at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection.

Taken in 1914/ 1915, this wonderful snapshot shows un-enlisted members of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company, including the poet and playwright John Drinkwater and Repertory founder Barry Jackson, at the Birmingham Aluminium Casting Company where they spent Sundays making shell casings for the war effort.

Click here to view a selection of our performance related WW1 imagery

Double, double toil and trouble

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 15:52:00 +0000

With Halloween just around the corner, we’ve put together a bewitching selection of some of the best operatic, ballet and theatrical performances by… witches!

Featuring the murky world of witchcraft trials in The Last Witch, A Mirror for Witches and The Witch of Edmonton; twisted sorcery in Macbeth, The Witches, Dido and Aeneas and La Sylphide; spellbinding adventures in The Wizard of Oz and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and menacing tales from folklore in Hansel and Gretel, Into the Woods and Transformations.

Click here to view our frightful image selection

Click here to view all our witch related imagery

Tolkien at home – A rare glimpse into the private life of author J. R. R. Tolkien

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 09:49:00 +0000

To celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings (20^th October), we’re highlighting some rare images of Tolkien and his wife by leading portrait photographer Pamela Chandler, who was commissioned to take a series of portraits at their home in the 1960s.

Tolkien at home, 1961, 1966.

Photos by Pamela Chandler / ArenaPAL

Click here to view all Tolkien images by Pamela Chandler: http://www.arenapal.com/imageflows2/?s={"lid":"560d0ffb42065ba63d000000"}

Click here to view highlights from The Lord of the Rings film and musical productions: http://www.arenapal.com/imageflows2/?s={"lid":"561b735b42065b826a000000"}

MORE IMAGES AVAILABLE - please contact enquiries@arenapal.com for editorial image usage information or email us at enquiries@arenapal.com for your FREE in depth search by one of our expert picture researchers.

Kevin Spacey - Old Vic Theatre Retrospective in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 10:41:00 +0000

American actor Kevin Spacey, artistic director of the Old Vic theatre, has been awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to British theatre and international culture and comes as he ends his residency at the Old Vic Theatre.

During his ten years Spacey has directed two productions and starred in nine and was recently the subject of a special gala, held in his honour, to celebrate his successful tenure. Later this year Matthew Warchus will take over the position of artistic director.

In celebration of Spacey's achievements at the Old Vic we have gathered together images of his many productions there - from Cloaca (2004), the Matthew Warchus directed Speed-the-Plow (2008), right up to his solo performance in Clarence Darrow (2014).

Click here to view images of Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic Theatre

Click here to view images of Kevin Spacey by Nobby Clark – portraits in and around the Old Vic Theatre

Click here to view all Kevin Spacey related images

The "King of the Blues", guitarist and singer BB King, has died aged 89

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Fri, 15 May 2015 09:33:00 +0000

BB King in concert, 1973. Image by Ian Dickson / ArenaPAL

King, known for his hits My Lucille, Sweet Little Angel and Rock Me Baby, died in his sleep in Las Vegas. Born in Mississippi, King began performing in the 1940s, going on to influence a generation of musicians, and working with Eric Clapton and U2. Once ranked as the third greatest guitarist of all time, he had been suffering ill health in recent months. He was recently taken to hospital with a diabetes-related illness.

More BB King images here: http://www.arenapal.com/imageflows2/?s=bb+king

Keith Harris, Orville the Duck ventriloquist, dies aged 67

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 12:06:00 +0000

Entertainer Keith Harris, best known for performances with his puppet Orville, has died, aged 67.

Image: Keith Harris with Orville the Duck at Lewisham Concert Hall in 1979.

Photo by Frazer Ashford / ArenaPAL

Harris had his own BBC One Saturday night programme The Keith Harris Show and had a top 10 hit with Orville's Song, popularly known as I Wish I Could Fly, in 1982. Orville was his most famous creation - an innocent green duck in an oversized nappy, who was relentlessly taunted by Harris's other character, Cuddles the monkey. The Keith Harris Show ran for eight years from 1982 to 1990, and the entertainer appeared on a total of five Royal, and Children's Royal Variety Performances. (BBC News).

View more images of entertainer Keith Harris

A Revealing Moment with Julian Clary - Pete Jones Backstory

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 10:33:00 +0000

Pete Jones, another first class ArenaPAL photographer adds a personal theatre anecdote to our Backstory series.

Julian Clary at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, January 2001

"I had initiated and received agreement for a privately funded year-long project at the Theatre Royal, Brighton. My plan was to turn up every Thursday in 2001 and photograph each show backstage - everything except the performance itself, the polar opposite of what we normally shoot. I wasn’t entirely sure how it would shape up or whether the actors would even let me be there. This was the first Thursday of 2001 but the final week of the 2000 Christmas panto.

Julian was great - I think it helped that I hit it off pretty quickly with his sister Frankie who seemed to be his personal assistant, confidant and companion. In with Frankie, in with Julian! He let me hang out, pop back anytime during the show and just work around whatever he was up to. This shot was taken very early during the session - just as he was starting to get ready and transform himself.

I’ve always thought he had an incredibly strong face - but I like this shot as it feels quite an intimate and personal one, thoughtful but private too."

See all images by theatre photographer Pete Jones

Amazing Images of 'Alice in Wonderland' Spanning 150 Years of Performance

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 10:45:00 +0000

26 November 2015 marks the 150 anniversary of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the 1865 novel written by Lewis Carroll.

The fantastical children’s story explores the themes of logic and discovery, with its characters and imagery being highly influential in popular culture and so of course on the stage.
The very first theatrical adaptation is thought to be the musical play by H. Saville Clark (book) and Walter Slaughter (music), which premiered in 1886 at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London where it was restaged several times until finally closing in 1927.

Image: Phoebe Carlo as Alice, WM Cheesman as the Mock Turtle, Charles Bowland as the Gryphon, Premiere at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, 1886

Photo from Mander and Mitchenson / University of Bristol Theatre Collection / ArenaPAL

Since then there have been many iconic retellings of the story on stage and screen including: Christopher Wheeldon's ever-popular 2011 ballet ‘Alice's Adventures in Wonderland’; Walt Disney Studios classic 1951 animation as well as the more recent live action and CGI film starring Johnny Depp in 2010. Even musicians have found inspiration with the most famous Alice inspired song being Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane’s 1960s psychedelic anthem 'White Rabbit'.

Browse all of our Alice in Wonderland images:

Theatre, Musical and Pantomime adaptations of Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland performed as Ballet and other forms of Dance

Film and TV depictions of Alice in Wonderland

Illustrations and other interesting Alice in Wonderland related images

Helen Mirren in 'The Audience' holding the Queen's signature Launer handbag

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 10:12:00 +0000

Helen Mirren in 'The Audience' holding the Queen's signature Launer handbag
Photo by Johan Persson / ArenaPAL

The Queen's famous Launer 'Traviata' handbag has been re-issued after a surge of interest following the Broadway opening of 'The Audience' starring Helen Mirren. The show is also to be revived in the West End with Kristin Scott Thomas taking the lead role of Queen Elizabeth II. The English heritage boxy black leather handbag, which has been popular with the British monarch for over 40 years, makes appearances on stage in both productions.

ArenaPAL represents 'The Audience' production photographer Johan Persson - please contact enquiries@arenapal.com to license the attached images for use in editorial.

Click to view all available images from 'The Audience'

Psychologists prove Shakespeare is author of 'Double Falsehood'

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 16:57:00 +0000

A study published in the journal 'Psychological Science' claims to prove once and for all that the disputed authorship of the 18th century play Double Falsehood lies unarguably with William Shakespeare, rather than Lewis Theobald who published it in 1728 or by assumed Shakespeare collaborator John fletcher.

Double Falsehood by Shakespeare, Adam Redmore as Henrique and Jessie Lilley As Violante
at the Union Theatre, London, UK in January 2011
Photo by Marilyn Kingwill / ArenaPAL

By aggregating dozens of psychological features of each playwright, researchers, led by Dr Ryan Boyd of the University of Texas, were able to create a psychological signature for each individual and compare them with that of the writer of Double Falsehood. This profile "strongly identifies" Shakespeare as the true author.

The play advertised as by "William Shakespeare and John Fletcher" was revived in 2011 and was presented at the Union Theatre, Southwark, London, UK.

Click here for images of the play Double Falsehood

Happy 100th Birthday Billie Holiday

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 11:38:00 +0000

Celebrating the life and legacy of Lady Day on what would have been her Centenary year.

Born April 7 1915 she rose to become one of greatest legends of the jazz era with some of her most memorable songs include: Ain't Nobody's Business, God Bless the Child, That Ole Devil Called Love and the haunting protest Strange Fruit.

Take a look at more Billie Holiday images here

Exploring The Passion Play

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 10:29:00 +0000

Bill Bryden's Passion Play performed on the Southbank outside the National Theatre in London, 1977
Photo by Nobby Clark / ArenaPAL

The Passion Play - part of the Mystery or Miracle Plays - is a dramatic tradition stretching back to Medieval times.

Depicting the trial, suffering and death of Jesus Christ the performance originates within the Catholic church and is now performed in churches as a celebration of Lent, and worldwide as a secular form of entertainment during the Easter period.

Take a look through our lightbox below depicting some of the many versions of the Passion Play and other dramatic representations of the Crucifixion. Highlights include:

- The Bill Bryden directed 1977 National Theatre production on London's Southbank

- The Oberammergau Passion Play which has taken place in the German village once every decade since 1634 and is typically presented by a cast of over 2,000 local residents

- Michael Sheen’s The Passion in 2011 - a 72 hour epic modern-day version performed across the Welsh town of Port Talbot and with a cast of 1,000

The Passion Play and other dramatic representations of the Crucifixion

Cervantes tomb uncovered in Spain - we take a look at the authors greatest work Don Quixote

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 14:16:00 +0000

“He who reads much and walks much, goes far and knows much.” - Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote

Hot on the news of Richard III’s reburial in the UK comes the announcement that Spain has found the tomb of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - the Spanish author of the classic novel Don Quixote.

Inspired by Cervantes’ own experiences this romantic parody depicting quests, chivalry, fights on the high seas, slavery, and hostage escape is now considered the first modern European novel.

Staged cultural adaptations of Don Quixote

Since being published in two volumes in 1605 and 1615 Don Quixote has been the inspiration for a wide array of cultural adaptations, with one of the earliest known being Francis Beaumont’s 1612 English dramatic adaptation The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Ballets include Don Quichotte choreographed by James Harvey D'Egville (1809), Don Quixote choreographed by George Balanchine (1965),Don Quixote choreographed by Marius Petipa (1869) plus its restaging by Alexander Gorsky (1900) and most recently by Carlos Acosta (2013). The most performed opera adaptation is Don Quichotte (Don Quixote) by Jules Massenet which premièred in 1910 and is ever-popular with audiences today.

Take a look through our lightboxes below to discover more about the many staged works inspired by the famous Cervantes novel Don Quixote.

“Where there's music there can be no evil” - Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote

View Don Quixote ballets

View Don Quixote operas

View Don Quixote plays

Singers Oleg Bryjak and Maria Radner die in Alps plane crash

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 12:06:00 +0000

Opera singers Oleg Bryjak and Maria Radner have been named as amongst the 150 dead in yesterday’s Germanwings 4U9525 plane crash in the Alps. They were both returning from performing Richard Wagner’s Siegfried at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu on a series of dates that ended on Monday.

Oleg Bryjak performing in Kata Kabanova at the Royal Opera House, London in 2007,

and Maria Radner in Siegfried at the Royal Opera House, London in 2012

Photos by Clive Barda / ArenaPAL

Oleg Bryjak, 54, bass baritone, a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein / Dusseldorf had sung in venues worldwide including Zurich, Paris, Tokyo, Los Angeles, the Vienna State Opera, Munich State Opera, Staatsoper and German Oper Berlin, Chicago Lyric Opera and the Royal Opera House in London.

Maria Radner, 34, alto, was born in Düsseldorf in Germany, and made her debut in January 2012 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She subsequently performed in Buenos Aires, Bonn, Rome, Geneva and Milan as well as the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in London. She featured in Wagner’s Das Rheinhold, which was on BBC radio in 2012.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Godmother of Rock n' Roll

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 16:21:00 +0000

Sister Rosetta Tharpe making her London debut

at the old Chiswick Empire Theatre in 1957

Image : Topfoto / ArenaPAL

100 years ago on March 20th a rock gospel legend was born. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a pioneering singer and electric guitarist, named the 'Godmother of Rock n' Roll' and 'the original soul sister' she combined spiritual lyrics with her own rhythmic/early rock accompaniment.

Attaining great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s, she became gospel music's first crossover artist and its first great recording star influencing rock'n'roll artists such as Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Peter Brook at 90 - see rare early images of the director and his productions

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 11:00:00 +0000

"I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across an empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged."
- excerpt from The Empty Space by Peter Brook

As Peter Brook, the pioneering British theatre, film and opera director, celebrates his 90th birthday we present a retrospective of his most famous works - starting right at the very beginning.

Peter Brook aged 19 in 1945, and in rehearsal for A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1972

"Peter Brook, the 19-year-old producer, whose masterly handling of the piece has called forth much favourable comment" remarked Theatre World in 1945 beside a review for The Infernal Machine - an ambitious production which the teenage prodigy was staging to much acclaim at the Chanticleer Theatre Club in London. This was only his second professional appointment as a director.

Take a look through the lightbox below to view imagery from his early productions The Infernal Machine (1945), Huis Clos (1946), Dark of the Moon (1949) - the Salvador Dali designed opera Salome at the Royal Opera House (1949) - major productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company including Measure for Measure (1950), The Tempest (1957), King Lear (1962), Marat/Sade (1964), US (1966), his iconic staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1972), The Ik (1976) and Antony and Cleopatra (1978), The Mahabharata (1988) - as well as more modern projects such as Don Giovanni (Paris, 1998), A Magic Flute (2011), Le Costume (1999) which was later adapted to The Suit (2013)

View Peter Brook Retrospective images

View portraits and rehearsal images of Peter Brook

ArenaPAL Backstory - Allan Titmuss on Jazz Legend Miles Davis

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 10:55:00 +0000

As we continue our Backstory series, we ask Jazz and Contemporary Music photographer Allan Titmuss to recall the tale behind one of his most treasured frames.

Miles Davis at the Royal Festival Hall, London, 20 July 1985

"Backstage at the Royal Festival Hall in July 1989, absent-mindedly running an Afro-comb forward through his hair, his bare feet on the Green Room table, Miles Davis had my portfolio resting on his outstretched legs, turning the pages, talking. He came to a picture of his old ‘Sketches of Spain’ and ‘Birth of the Cool’ collaborator Gil Evans, nodded as Miles did when he liked something, and said,

'I don't look at pictures of myself any more. Every time I do, another piece has dropped off.'

Then turning a few more pages, he found this.

Miles Davis, 1985 by Allan Titmuss

'Ah, this one,' he said, 'You took this one. I've seen this one lots. I like this one’, pointing, tapping the picture, ‘This one's my favourite.' Then when he’d finished looking, staring squarely at me, his blessing - ‘You’re some motherf * er’.

Nights when the angel's on duty, you get more than a likeness. It's a flicker, an insight, a distillation. A moment you can go back to time after time, that always seems true. A picture that always has new things to say. If I had to save one frame, I guess this would be it."

View more images of Miles Davis by Allan Titmuss

See all images by Allan Titmuss

Early Modern, 20th and 21st Century British Female Playwrights

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 11:01:00 +0000

To celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th, we are highlighting the achievements of female playwrights from the second half of the Early Modern Age (1650-1800) as well as some of today’s most acclaimed talent.

A boom of creativity began in the Restoration era when theatres re-opened after strict Puritan rule, with women now legally allowed to act upon the stage and increased recognition given to female playwrights.

The most successful dramatist among them was Aphra Behn whose immensely prolific body of work was amongst the most performed in 17th Century Britain by either a woman or a man.

View portraits of Early Modern Female Playwrights

including: Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), Aphra Behn (1640–1689), Susanna Centlivre (or Carroll) (c.1667-1723), Catharine Trotter (1674-1749), Eliza Haywood (1693-1756), Catherine 'Kitty' Clive (1711-1785), Elizabeth Inchbald (1753–1821), Hannah More (1745-1833), Joanna Baillie (1762–1851), Mary Russell Mitford (1787–1855), Catherine Gore (1798-1861)

These Early Modern female playwrights had varying success with their works, but all are remembered as pioneers of the genre for women.

Our second lightbox demonstrates this legacy with images of ten eminent female playwrights of the 20th/21st century - all of whom are widely praised with many having their work performed to sell out audiences across the world.

View portraits and images of productions by 20th / 21st Century Female Playwrights

including: Maureen Duffy (b.1933) – Rites, Caryl Churchill (b.1938) – Top Girls, Shelagh Delaney (1938-2011) - A Taste of Honey, Winsome Pinnock (b.1961) – Leave Taking, Tanika Gupta (b.1963) - The Waiting Room, Sarah Kane (1971 - 1999) – Blasted, Laura Wade (b.1977) – Posh, Lucy Prebble (b.1981) – ENRON, Bola Agbaje (b.1981) - Gone Too Far!, Polly Stenham (b.1986) - That Face

The Sound of Music at 50 - A Treasure Trove of Images

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 17:34:00 +0000

It was 50 years ago in March 1965 that the film version of the hugely popular stage musical The Sound of Music was first released in cinemas to huge critical acclaim - winning 5 Oscars and displacing Gone with the Wind as the highest-grossing film of all-time.

Based on the book 'The Story of the Trapp Family Singers' by Maria von Trapp - played by Julie Andrews in the film - the tale of a family of singers escaping Nazi era Austria captured the imaginations of millions around the world.

The key to the film's popularity was the Grammy Award nominated soundtrack, which made classics of the original Rogers and Hammerstein production songs including 'Edelweiss', 'My Favorite Things', 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain', 'Do-Re-Mi', 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen', 'The Lonely Goatherd' and the title song 'The Sound of Music'.

We are showcasing a fantastic selection of images depicting the film, the various stage versions - including Mary Martin in the 1961 Broadway premiere - as well as portraits and posters of the Von Trapp family themselves!

The Sound of Music - Film 1965

The Sound of Music – the real von Trapp family

The Sound of Music - Stage version 1961 onwards

Leonide Massine watches a rehearsal of Parade, with design by Picasso

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 17:30:00 +0000

Leonide Massine rehearsing Parade

Photo by Neil Libbert

Nice feedback on last week’s Picasso themed post from photographer Neil Libbert who shared with us some great pictures of choreographer Leonide Massine rehearsing The London Festival Ballets’s 1974 production of Parade.

Costumes and set were designed by Picasso, and the music written by Erik Satie.

view images of Massine directing Parade with design by Picasso here

Picasso's Little Recognised Contribution to the Performing Arts

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 15:11:00 +0000

Pablo Picasso’s lesser known works are his stage and costume designs - and virtually unknown are his two plays which are as avant-garde as any piece he created on canvas. We have collected together a selection of images which give a sense of his little recognised contribution to the performing arts during his career.

Picasso collaborated with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes on the Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau ballet Parade in 1917.

Picasso the Designer

Beginning his theatrical work with set and costume design, Picasso collaborated with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes on the Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau ballet Parade in 1917. The artist’s signature Cubist elements are evident across the design, with several of the costumes being made out of boxy cardboard. His later work on the production of The Three-Cornered Hat in 1919 helped to revitalise Ballet Russes’ profile.

Rita Renoir in Le Desir attrape par la queue by Pablo Picasso at the Festival Pas Libre in July 1967
Photo by Mark Ellidge / ArenaPAL

Picasso the Playwright

In 1941 in occupied Paris, Picasso wrote his first play Desire Caught by the Tail– a surreal and often nonsensical piece containing characters such as The Onion, Big Foot ,Fat Anxiety and Thin Anxiety. The first performance, a reading directed by Albert Camus, took place in March 1944 and featured Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre and Valentine Hugo, as well as Picasso himself. His second and only other play was The Four Little Girls in 1949.

We have recently scanned a batch of images by Mark Ellidge depicting a performance of the play at the 1960s hippy festival The Freedom of Free Expression [contains nudity].

Click here to view images

MORE IMAGES AVAILABLE - please contact enquiries@arenapal.com for editorial image usage information for this production or email us at enquiries@arenapal.com

ArenaPAL Backstory - Sheila Burnett on Jim Carter

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 10:15:00 +0000

When a photographer scans their archive a cornucopia of performing arts history is unlocked. This is the first in a series of images where one of our photographers will share a background story to a favourite shot. First see if you can work out who it is and then scroll down for the answer and the story!

Jim Carter, 1984

Answer: Jim Carter by Photographer Sheila Burnett – whom today’s audiences are more used to seeing in a butler’s uniform serving the residents of Downton Abbey!

But why is he clowning around?

Sheila explains: “Probably because he loved it, I don't think he ever had any intention of being a 'straight' actor at this stage, but he was big and brave with this booming stunning voice. He joined Brighton Combination 1971 for a fiver a week along with other like-minded 'performers'. He always had this magic thing, he loved it and once when about 6 of us went on hols together, he packed all these clown outfits so we could busk in South of France. We spent a lot of time making human pyramids in village squares…I’ve got those piccies somewhere too!”

View more images from this shoot here

View all images by Sheila Burnett

The Weird and Wonderful World of Pantomime Animals

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 13:01:00 +0000

Friday 12th December is the UK's official Panto Day and to celebrate this auspicious date we have gathered together a host of our most weird and wonderful images of pantomime animals!

From the traditional pantomime horse, cow and goose, to the more bizarre versions of monkeys and lions - one or more actors dressed up in animal costume has been a staple of the British panto since the modern form rose to popularity in the Victorian era.

Click here to view our Pantomime Animals image selection

And if these images have you yearning to try out a costume for yourself, there is always the annual London Pantomime Horse Race in Greenwich on Sunday 14th December!

We look forward to seeing you there!

More info on the Panto Horse Race

More info on Panto Day

Behind the Scenes at the Pollocks Toy Theatre Shop Factory Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 17:15:00 +0000

'If you love art, folly or the bright eyes of children, speed to Pollock's' ...wrote Robert Louis Stevenson in an essay which immortalised Pollock’s Toy Shop - a business that was started in 1856 and still runs today from Covent Garden in London.

A search through the extensive University of Bristol Theatre Collection has recently uncovered a magnificent photo-documentary by renowned theatre photographer John Vickers (1916-1976) of a visit he made to the Benjamin Pollock Ltd workshops in the late 1940s. The company, at the time, was under new management and enjoying a revival of interest due to the demand for newly manufactured Bakelite and wood kits.

View John Vicker’s images from Benjamin Pollock Ltd - Behind the Scenes at the Pollocks Toy Theatre Shop Factory Workshop

Pollock’s speciality was in fact the sale and manufacture of Toy Theatres - otherwise known as Juvenile Drama. Traditionally the kits comprised a paperboard stage and accompanying set design with cut out characters according to the play being sold - and sometimes the likeness of popular actors of the time. The miniature production would be performed to family and friends using an abridged script and, until the introduction of the television, was one of the most popular forms of home entertainment in Europe. Toy theatre has seen a resurgence in recent years and there are numerous international toy theatre festivals throughout the Americas and Europe.

View more images of Toy Theatres

Icons on the stage, and the actors who play them

noreply@blogger.com (ArenaPAL Images, London, UK) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 13:09:00 +0000

As Helen Mirren takes her award winning role in Peter Morgan's hit play The Audience to Broadway and Kristin Scott Thomas is confirmed as the Queen in London’s forthcoming revival we take a look at other icons of our time who have been represented on stage.

View all Icons of Our Time images here

Most recent Royal incarnations include Mike Bartlett’s Charles III imagining the future lives of Prince Charles and Prince Harry and Moira Buffini’s Handbagged which eavesdrops on the weekly meetings between the Queen and Margaret Thatcher.

But it's not just the Royal family that playwrights have depicted on the stage - take a look through our selection of images below to find Albert Einstein, Anna Nicole Smith, Eva Perón, Che Guevara, Muammar Gaddafi, Joseph Stalin, John Gielgud, John Barrymore, Maria Callas, W. H. Auden and Benjamin Britten plus musicians Ray Davies, Kurt Cobain, Sid Vicious, The Beatles, Buddy Holly and more.

View all Icons of Our Time images here