The Leeds Playbills site contains over 5000 playbills from the collections in Leeds Local Studies Library. These playbills are from a wide range of Leeds Theatres such as the City Varieties, the Grand, and the Playhouse. The site also includes playbills from many Leeds theatres which now no longer exist such at The Theatre on Hunslet Lane, the Empire, the Princess and the Theatre Royal.
The site provides a unique insight into theatre life in Leeds between 1781 and the 1990's. In addition the site also contains circus bills such as those from Pablo Fanque's Circus and the many circuses that performed off Boar Lane.
The site can be searched by theatre from a drop down list or by selecting a range of dates to limit the search. In addition the user can also search by the name of an act or actor's name or by a keyword. This enables the user to search for particular people, possibly for a family connection, a particular act or the name of a play can be entered as a keyword.
Results show the playbill as a small image which can then be clicked on for a full description and an enlarged image. If you wish to see the playbill in more detail this can be viewed in an enlarged form which allows the user to read all the detail on the playbill.
A playbill gallery is also available from the home page which provides a changing selection of the playbills we have on the site. This allows the user just to browse and get a flavour of the site.
You can now purchase original size colour copies of the playbills in the gallery, at prices ranging from £20 - £50.
The Leeds Playbill site has received funding from the New Opportunities Fund, now the Big Lottery, and was developed as part of the Leodis website.