During the Victorian period, many popular plays were reproduced in toy theatre formats.  Publishers such as Benjamin Pollock and William Webb created miniature versions of theatres as well as the characters, costumes and scenery of the original productions.  Such toy theatres served both as souvenirs and enabled families to recreate a favourite production at home.  After Pollock’s death in 1937, many of his toy theatre publications remained in print and Pollock’s Toy Museum, first in Covent Garden and later in Fitzrovia, served to educate and delight new generations.  Alan Powers is the Chair of the Pollock’s Toy Theatre Trust and will be discussing his long association with Pollock’s Toy Theatre Trust and highlighting Benjamin Pollock’s instrumental role in the revival of toy theatre.  He will also be discussing the new home of Pollock’s collection at Pickford’s House, Derby, now branded as ’The Tiny World of Toy Theatre’.

The Speaker:

Scholar, researcher and writer on twentieth-century architecture and design, Alan Powers is the author of more than 20 books focusing on design, architecture and architectural conservation.  He has curated exhibitions at the Royal Academy, Design Museum, Kettle’s Yard and the Imperial War Museum. He was Professor of Architecture and Cultural History at the University of Greenwich.  Alan Powers is a Master of the Artworkers’ Guild and was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architecture in recognition of his standing as one of the pre-eminent experts in the history of 20th-century architecture.

Transport information:

Nearest London Underground stations for  St. Anne’s Church, 55 Dean St., London W1D 6AF: PIccadilly CIrcus, Leiceister Square, Tottenham Court Road.

BOOKINGS:  

STR lectures are free and open to the public. You don’t have to be a member, but it is essential to book to let us know if you wish to attend in person.

The Zoom link is also here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83272798578?pwd=sPeQsLbcWksM6nM2OxlrmMW8pSry6T.1