A Treasure Trove of Posters!
We discovered a treasure trove of historic theatre posters while renovating The Mowlem during the 2020 lockdown - stored along with old programmes and flyers, they had survived for decades hidden away in a box in a dark corner.
Our aim now is to frame as many posters as we can and to display them for public enjoyment and to celebrate the history of our Theatre. Each poster will be carefully preserved behind UV-safe glass in high-quality bespoke frames supplied by The Mulberry Tree Gallery here in Swanage.
We had a sample framed (sponsored by a local business) and it looks fantastic, so our aim is to ask local businesses and individuals whether they would like to sponsor a poster each to help us get as many as we can on the walls so that people can see them for the first time in decades.
About The Posters
We have seventeen posters, each advertising performances by 'Swanage Music & Drama Society' and including a host of local names. All but one advertise performances at The Mowlem, with one promoting a performance at The Forres School Chapel.
They were printed by Bartlett & Son, Swanage, each of the posters is approximately 9 x 29 inches (24 x 75cm) but do vary slightly. We believe that they date from the 1930s (as one is dated 1936-37) and would have been displayed either side of the doors of the old Mowlem Institute building.
One additional poster is completely different, but we'd love to frame this one too - it dates from 1980 and advertises films and performances in the modern building including Superman II and Flash Gordon!
Can You Help Us?
We'd love to know more about the posters, plays and players, so please do get in touch if you can help us identify the year in which any others were performed or you have a link to any of the stars of the shows!
We are asking for sponsorship of £100 per poster - this will cover the cost of the frame and also give us additional funds to put towards improving The Showbar, The Mowlem Theatre's bar which raises valuable income to maintain and support the work of The Mowlem itself. Specifically, we aim to spend spare funds on plants and planters to make the bar a more pleasant place to visit prior to shows and during the interval.
All of the posters can be seen lower down this page and can be selected as the poster you'd like to sponsor - perhaps you have a connection to one of the players, remember seeing one of the plays (at a later date, of course!) or just like the design of the poster itself.
If you'd prefer to contribute towards general improvements such as plants, planters or lights, that is also very welcome - we've identified feature lights which cost around £50 each, large plants at up to £45 each and recycled plastic planters at £35 each, but any donations will be gratefully received!
The Posters
There are 18 in total, so please keep scrolling! Choose the one you like, then select the title from the Reward panel on the right of this page.
A Broad Appeal
This Crowdfunder appeal is taking place as part of our '160 for 160' appeal, which aims to raise £160,000 to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the founding of The Mowlem Institute charity. For other opportunities to contribute, please visit https://themowlem.com/takeyourseat/ and https://themowlem.com/donations/ or get in touch at https://themowlem.com/contactus/