100 Theatres: Portraits of the Playhouse

An eclectic range of paintings of theatres, from the ancient to the modern age and from the smallest travelling theatre based in Rome to one of the biggest in New York. We are lucky to still have some of them, in the last half of the 20th century, it is surprising how many of these world famous theatres were proposed for demolition, Carnegie Hall in the 50s and several London West End Theatres in the 60s. Of course, some did not survive, demolished for yet another office block. Here Paul Tracey has painted some of our most attractive survivors and even a couple that did not, some you will know, but many you will not. Many of the paintings come with notes, old postcards of the buildings and the actors that performed there and some with programmes. There is an introduction by the author Tracy Bains, who, as a teenager and young woman worked in the theatre.