British Library Curator

Help make the British Library's collections of historical playbills easier to find. You can help by marking out the titles of plays, recording performance dates or transcribing titles and genres. Every contribution, large or small, makes a difference.

How do I get started? Just go to the British Library website and start transcribing right now.  

How much time will this take? This is a low time commitment. Spend as much time as you want, one hour or many. You will be helping these national treasures to be searchable and discoverable by all!

How do I expand this narrative arc? If acting or playwriting are in your narrative arc, consider building on this interest with one of the following:

• Help the Penn Playbills Project capture their historical playbills too.

• Attend a performance arts summer camp to explore and learn about the world of theatre and acting or enroll in a local playwriting workshop for teens like this Writopia Playwriting Workshop

• Become involved in school and community theatre, either as an actor, director or backstage.

• Organize a local Theatre Group for unserved youth or seniors which meets regularly to attend a play (or movie of a play.)

Hot Tip: Completing a playbills project or attending a summer program is a great start, but the real impact will be greater if you lead your own impact project such as the Theatre Group Organizer.