Theatre & Film Museum Created with Merger???
Date: 17 July 2006
While a partnership with the Royal Opera House is still the forerunner in the debate about how to save the Covent Garden-based Theatre Museum (see
News, 19 May 2006), another suggestion has been made that the struggling venue could team up with the British Film Institute (BFI) to become a performing arts museum incorporating all aspects of theatre and film. The museum in Tavistock Street has been under threat of closure since Heritage Lottery Fund turned down two grant applications from the owner, the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington, for redevelopment. One proposal, to join the collection of the museum with that of its neighbour, the Royal Opera House, is currently being investigated further. Another option has arisen this past week, however, after National Heritage chairman James Bishop suggested a merger with the BFI which would involve relocating the museum’s archive of theatrical memorabilia to the Commonwealth Institute in Kensington or the disused power station in the Thames Gateway at Greenwich. Leading theatre personalities including Dame Judi Dench have campaigned to keep the museum going where it is, in the heart of Theatreland – a view supported up by the Society of London Theatre. (See
News, 11 May 2006). A spokesperson for the Theatre Museum told Whatsonstage.com that a merger with the BFI was just one suggestion, and a number of options are being looked into, including the one involving the Royal Opera House. A decision about the future of the museum is likely to be made this autumn.
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