CPR RESOURCE CENTRE - EMPHEMERA

Culture from the debris of life

There are a number of artefacts associated with Cardiff Laboratory Theatre, the Centre for Performance Research, productions by Richard Gough and specifically the Cavanagh Collection that will be catalogued and listed here within the next two years.

The Cavanagh Collection is a recent and valuable addition to the exisiting CPR resources and was gifted to the CPR / AU by Mr John Cavanagh. It is regarded by many as the world's largest and most significant private collection relating to world theatre and performance, containing over 29,000 volumes and archive of prints, drawings and photographs concentrated on drama/theatre as a live art, rather than as a literary form.

The collection has a strong emphasis on musical theatre and includes a wide range of material on world theatre by international authors, in their original language, covering historic and contemporary theatre. It also includes journals, artefacts, books, graphics, paintings, images and ephemera and greatly expands CPR's current holdings in the visual, scenographic and musical (music theatre to opera) dimensions of theatre and performance particulary. The holdings on theatre in production and theatre history generally - and specifically those on European theatre and dance from the 16th to 20th Century - are significant. The current CPR collection is highly specialised, emphasising traditional world theatre and dance (especially the performance cultures of Asia) and contemporary performance practice (Australasia, Europe and the Americas).

These new materials will support and advance the research and practice of researchers engaged in performance studies, performance research and contemporary theatre. The addition of the Cavanagh Collection broadens the scope, depth, reach and range of material available to support academic research.