Clive Barker (1931-2005), an internationally renowned scholar of contemporary theatre practice and former Senior Research Fellow of the College, kindly gave his extensive archive to Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance in 2004. The material is a reflection of the diversity of his work including: actor in Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop; colleague of Brecht’s heirs in the former GDR; leader of celebrated international workshops across Europe and South America; loyal supporter of the theatrical avant-garde; champion of popular forms and patron of community based theatre companies.
Clive’s relationship with RBC began in the early 1990s as an examiner and later as A Senior Research Fellow. He made valuable contributions to the college’s Symposia, notably the 2000 Brecht/Wekwerth Symposium.
RBC is proud to hold an extensive collection of Clive’s research material that includes books, articles, scripts, correspondence files, newspaper cuttings, theatre programmes, theatre memorabilia, video and audio recordings and complete sequences of Theatre Quarterly and New Theatre Quarterly.
His career began as an actor in Joan Littlewood’s highly influential Theatre Workshop at Stratford East. He played a pivotal role in the foundation of Centre 42 in the early 1950s, lectured extensively on theatre at the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick,and was a key contributor to the Dick McCaw-led International Theatre Workshop Festival. Clive was also an active member of the Board of Inter-Action, Ed Berman‘s community arts company.He was a colleague of Brecht’s heirs in the former GDR; leader of celebrated international workshops across Europe and in South America; loyal supporter of the theatrical avant-garde, champion of popular forms, and patron of community based theatre companies; co-founder and co-editor of New Theatre Quarterly with Simon Trussler; and author of numerous articles and books including the seminal Theatre Games, re-issued by Methuen in 2010.He also co-edited British Theatre between the Wars, 1918-1939 with Maggie Gale, published in 2001 by Cambridge University Press.
Areas of potential interest to researchers may include: British theatre in the interwar period; actor training; Theatre Workshop; Centre 42; burlesque theatre; theatre for development in international contexts; variety and popular performance; and theatre in the GDR.
The archive is indexed and searchable via the Bexley Library online catalogue. Scholars and research students wishing to access the archive are invited to contact the Rose Bruford’s Learning Resource Centre [email protected].
For more information about the Clive Barker collection please contact the Clive Barker Research Fellow Dr Susan Croft [email protected] or the college’s Research Assistant Dr Joseph Dunne [email protected].