| Description | The papers of the Unity Theatre, formerly known as the Merseyside Left Theatre and the Merseyside Unity Theatre, includes the press cuttings, advertisements, programmes, photographs, and other records for the theatre and its productions. There is also a small amount of material about the building itself, which was previously a synagogue. The collection also contains material relating to Productionline - the partnership between the Liverpool Lunchtime Theatre, Unity Theatre and the Liverpool Everyman Theatre.
Within these papers is also the archive of the Merseyside Amateur Dramatics Society, which will be split from this collection at a later date.
Please note that this collection is currently uncatalogued, but you can still browse a provisional box list of items attached within the Multimedia field. This is split across two files to represent the part of the collection which was recently acquired from National Museums Liverpool. |
| AdminHistory | The Unity Theatre was established in April 1937 as the Merseyside Left Theatre. Founding members included Graham Frood, Joan Frood, George Garrett, Jerry Dawson, and others. The theatre's name changed to the Merseyside Unity Theatre in 1944, as part of a national movement of radical and experimental theatre, reflecting political and social issues. In 1979, the Merseyside Unity Theatre acquired its current site on Hope Place from Liverpool City Council, a former synagogue and Jewish school and later photographic studio for the commercial photographer John Mills. The theatre has expanded over time to accommodate larger professional touring companies, as well as continuing to support local talent, including a refurbishment funded by Art Council England completed in August 1998. The name Unity Theatre was used from the mid-1980s onwards. In 2004, the Unity Youth Theatre was established. In 2010, Unity Theatre won the Best Performing Venue award at the Mersey Partnership Tourism Awards. |
| CustodialHistory | This collection was historically split into two parts. The first half was generously provided to LJMU SCA on long-term loan by the Unity Theatre in 2009, in addition to some material later donated to the collection by Willy Russell. In 2025, National Museums Liverpool kindly transferred the second half of this collection (containing mostly business papers dated 1937-1987) to LJMU Special Collections & Archives, reuiniting the entire collection for it to be catalogued as part of the Unity Theatre's Heritage Lottery Grant, also awarded in 2025. This is an active and growing collection with more deposits expected in the future. |