‘The Stage’ digital archive (and ‘The Guardian’)

Here is an excellent resource for anyone working on the history of British theatre: the entire archive of that thespian stalwart The Stage is now available and searchable from the comfort of your own home for a very reasonable small fee.

Also, did you know that, while The Guardian’s digital archive is currently a work-in-progress for the period prior to 1985, if you email them with a very specific pre-1985 query (as I did yesterday) you will get a very helpful response within a matter of hours, and they may even (as in my case) attach the requested article? This is an astonishingly good service – and is it ever possible to thank someone enough if they have saved you a trip to the hell which is Colindale? I shall be buying The Guardian again.

“So can anyone tell me why there is still an underwear factory in ‘Coronation Street’?”

As a way of opening a seminar which followed an introductory lecture on the economic and social effects of the Industrial Revolution (not a small topic!), I thought this was a flash of inspiration on my part. Only time will tell whether my students feel the same way. My pre-occupation with them and all matters related to my new (part-time) academic environment explains my recent blogging silence.