APGRD Special collections

Several collections of practitioners' personal and institutional records have been donated to the APGRD. Each one provides unique insights into their socio-historical moment, as well as the changing approaches to staging ancient dramas in the 20th and 21st centuries. The APGRD Special collections include:

To consult any of the Special collections, please read our Visit us page for information on booking an appointment.

The Abd'Elkader Farrah collection

Design sketch of the chorus for a 1960 Oedipus Rex, depicting masked chorus on steps around a central red figure

Oedipus Rex, London, 1960

Abd'Elkader Farrah's design, showing Tiresias bottom right and Creon in red, surrounded by the chorus; Farrah collection.

Donated by the Algerian designer Abd'Elkader Farrah (1926-2005), this collection provides insights into his work on twentieth-century productions of ancient Greek drama; it has a particularly focus on the 1960 Oedipus Rex directed by Farrah's frequent collaborator Michel Saint-Denis.

More on the Farrah collection... [forthcoming]

The Leyhausen-Spiess collection

Sepia photograph, close up on three female performers in robes.

Prometheus, Germany, 1936

An image of the chorus in Leyhausen's Prometheus, at Bad Hersfeld, 1936; Leyhausen-Spiess collection.

This collection documents the work of Wilhelm Leyhausen (1887-1953): his staging of ancient Greek dramas from the 1920s to the 1950s, his development of the Sprechchor (the speaking chorus), and his involvement in the Delphiad Festivals. The collection includes the records of the Delphic Institute (1950s-1970s), which Leyhausen founded, and which his wife Anne-Marie Loose continued after his death.

More on the Leyhausen-Spiess collection... [forthcoming]

The Gwyneth Lewis collection

A photograph of a solo performer wrapped in a thin red material that hangs and twists from above

Clytemnestra, Cardiff, 2012

Gwyneth Lewis' adaptation of the Oresteia premiered at Sherman Cymru in April 2012.

In 2015 Gwyneth Lewis (1959-), the inaugural National Poet of Wales, donated her series of annotated drafts, personal notes, and press materials which record the development of Clytemnestra (2012), Lewis' adaptation of the Oresteia commissioned by Sherman Cymru, Cardiff.

More on the Gwyneth Lewis collection... [forthcoming]

Bradfield-Raeburn collection

Black and white photograph, from above, of six performers wearing robes, encircling a robed performer with a stick and beard

Antigone, London, 1977

A performance of Antigone, directed by David Raeburn, by pupils of Whitgift School in 1977; Bradfield-Raeburn collection.

Donated by school teacher and headmaster, David Raeburn (1927–2021), this collection encompasses school and university productions which played a key role in the revival of the Greek Play tradition. It has a particular focus on productions, directed by Raeburn, at Bradfield College and at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford.

More on the Bradfield-Raeburn collection... [forthcoming]

Donating a special collection

We warmly welcome donations to both our General and Special archival collections. The Special collections differ from the General collection by offering a more in-depth or comprehensive range of materials that are focussed on an individual creative practitioner, company, or institution.

If you are a creative practitioner or company, involved in productions based on the ancient Greek and Roman tragedies, comedies, or epics, or if you have inherited the records a family member historically involved in such work, we would be delighted to discuss the possibility of expanding our Special collections.

Please contact us to discuss donations.