Over the last eight months we’ve debated the impending demise of London’s Theatre Museum, the only dedicated museum of its kind in the country. And we’ve not been alone – MPs, directors of other European museums and high-profile luvvies have also weighed in on the debate with the museum’s owners (the V&A Museum). Was the threatened closure of the museum in the heart of London’s theatre district a travesty, or was it an opportunity for the collection to be re-housed in less dilapidated premises that could do justice to its pedigree?
Well it’s all academic now, as the Theatre Museum took its final curtain call yesterday. A smattering of luvvies were heard to grumble, but to little effect – moaning was not going to raise the huge sums of cash needed to bring the museum’s building up to scratch.
So after 20 years, the Theatre Museum has taken its final bow, at least in its current form. Here’s hoping that the proposals to move the museum’s collection to a new permanent exhibition at the Kensington V&A can finally do it justice.
