Legends of the stage to be celebrated in exhibition and lecture

Published On Mon 11 May 2015 by Grant Hill

The University of Dundee will this week celebrate the actors, plays and playwrights who have made British theatre among the most vibrant in the world with an exhibition of stage icons and a visit from one of the leading figures in the UK’s arts industry.

Ian McKellen, Ingrid Bergman, Samuel Beckett, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Vanessa Redgrave and Lawrence Olivier are among those who feature in “And the Winner is…”: Celebrating the best in British Theatre and Film’, an exhibition of stunning black and white photographs from the University’s Peto Collection that opens in the Dalhousie Building on Monday, 11th May. It includes 22 images of leading lights in British theatre from the 1950s and 1960s captured by legendary photographer Michael Peto, whose work regularly featured subjects from the performing arts. When Peto died in 1970 his extensive collection of 130,000 prints and negatives was left to the University by his family. The exhibitions runs until 26th June.

The exhibition accompanies the final instalment in this year’s Saturday Evening Lecture Series (SELS), a talk by Julian Bird, Executive Producer of the Olivier Awards and CEO of the Society of London Theatre and the UK Theatre Association, on 16th May.

In his lecture, Julian will discuss the renaissance of the Olivier Awards, the most coveted accolades in British theatre and named in honour of the legendary Sir Laurence Olivier, whilst also paying tribute to other contemporary and past figures from the stage.

SELS is Scotland's oldest continuous free public lecture series and its history can be traced back to a series of lectures held jointly with the Dundee Naturalists Society beginning with a lecture by Principal John Yule Mackay on Primitive Man in October 1924.

The talk, ‘And the winner is……: The Olivier Awards and celebrating the best in British Theatre’, takes place at the Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill from 6pm on Saturday, 16th May.

A drinks reception will follow the lecture. Overflow theatres may be in operation and the main lecture theatre is filled on a first come first seated basis on the night.

Free tickets are available from Tower Reception, 01382 385108, online at www.dundee.ac.uk/tickets, or by emailing events@dundee.ac.uk.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
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