Birmingham Rep prepares for 100th birthday

Birmingham Repertory Theatre will celebrate its 100th birthday in February 2013 and as part of the plans to mark the landmark anniversary are asking for local people’s treasured memories of the theatre. And, to collect and record these local memories, staff and volunteers from The REP will be camping out in Centenary Square during the Christmas season in a special REP100 Caravan.

REP100, a project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, will bring to life 100 years of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company. At the heart of the project is a new online archive, www.rep100.org, which will feature thousands of photos, letters, posters and programmes from past productions and also audio memories from audiences, actors, directors and playwrights.

Jenny Smith, Project Manager explains “REP100 is very much about bringing our heritage to life and so, as part of our new digital archive, we are asking audiences, actors, directors and previous employees to tell us their memories which will create a new oral history archive. We want to hear about people’s first memory of going to The REP – that visit may even have been their first visit to a theatre. Perhaps a relative worked at the theatre or they met a future partner there. They may remember the first ever production at the new REP on Broad Street in the 70s or have seen a star of the future at the Old REP on Station Street, our original home.”

The REP 100 Caravan will be in Centenary Square, next to Baskerville House, as part of the Birmingham Christmas Market, from Thursday 15 November. There will be a team of people ready to record memories and stories from 11am – 4.30pm every Friday and 10.30am – 3.30pm every Saturday until December 22.