Photos: Playhouse Exhibits Reg Wilson Photography

The photographs of celebrated theatre photographer Reg Wilson are being exhibited from next week at the Playhouse Theatre by the Victoria & Albert Museum Theatre Collection as part of the Society of London Theatre’s centenary celebrations.

During a prolific career, Reg Wilson took a vast collection of over 800,000 theatre photographs during the latter half of the last century, gaining access to many of the great stage actors and performers of the day and taking iconic images that are still in use today.

The exhibition, entitled Capturing the Moment, comprises over forty of Wilson’s photographs, including the three seen below. It will be open to the general public at a series of open days at the Playhouse Theatre and to the audience of La Cage aux Folles, the Menier Chocolate Factory production which recently transferred to the theatre (See News, 29 Aug 2008).

The subjects of the exhibition include Barry Humphries, Michael Crawford, Ray Cooney, Peter O’Toole, Janet Suzman, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Cyd Charisse, Ginger Rogers, Diana Rigg, and Simon Russell Beale. Also on display will be Wilson’s most famous image, of Diana, Princess of Wales dancing with Wayne Sleep on the stage of the Royal Opera House in 1985.

The exhibition will be open to the public on 11, 12, 17, and 26 November, as well as the 2 and 12 December 2008 and the 2, 14 and 27 January 2009.

– By Theo Bosanquet