Ronald James Programme Collection

Collection of programmes from productions attended by Ronald James, from 1940s-1990s. The majority are from London productions, but Bristol is also well represented. Other places which feature are Cheltenham, Stratford-on-Avon, Salisbury, Winchester and Southampton, with a few items from Swindon, Newbury, Portsmouth, Cambridge, Oxford, Guildford and Basingstoke, and the occasional item from further afield. The majority are for professional productions, but there are also a few for places further afield.

Catalogued

Available for consultation at the University of Kent's Special Collections & Archives reading room, Templeman Library, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NU (specialcollections@kent.ac.uk).

Ron James spent his childhood in the west of England, attending St George's Grammar School in Bristol before going on to Cheltenham Technical College and being involved in drama there. After a time as Assistant County Drama Adviser for Gloucestershire, he served as Hampshire County Drama Advisor, 1956-74; he was also Winchester Cathedral~s Hon Director of Drama, 1965-98, the honorary director of the (Winchester) Cathedral Players and (Winchester) Festival Players for which he wrote most of the scripts until he was in his 90s, and was also involved in producing radio programmes for children~s drama lessons for the BBC, and writing textbooks on the subject. (With thanks to David Rymill, Hampshire Archive & Local Studies, for biographical details).