Brian Coates at the Theatre Royal(Image: Zoey Coates)

Family of Nottingham Theatre Royal stage manager donate unique memorabilia to venue in his memory

by · NottinghamshireLive

A unique collection with everything from posters and playbills to photographs and paperwork has been donated to the Nottingham Theatre Royal and Concert Hall from the family of a former stage manager. Brian Coates worked at the theatre from 1960 until 1984 when he made the move into television.

He then worked at Central TV at the Lenton Lane Studios in Nottingham. During his decades at the theatre, Brian had collected a large amount of items and personal mementoes relating to his role.

Brian died aged 80 on August 28, 2022, and, following his passing, his family have been working through his theatre collection. They have made the decision to donate a significant amount of Brian's collection to the theatre.

Brian's daughter, Zoey Coates, said: "There’s some personal bits we want to keep, but the rest of it should come back here. There’s a lot of stuff and, speaking to the archive team, these guys know what to do with it. My Dad was a big fan of My Fair Lady and Fiddler on the Roof, he had a cat called ‘Fiddler’ and a cat called ‘Higgins’! Pantomimes were a big thing for us as a family, too.

A Nottingham Post article from 1984 about Brian making the switch from theatre to television(Image: Nottingham Theatre Royal)

"He was here all the time, and my mum worked in the stalls bar for a while, so I guess it was a family thing. It wasn’t until he passed away that I realised the significance of the photos of the Royal Ballet we had up in the house, and a poster of Dick Whittington, which was the last panto he worked on.”

All of the donated items will now be worked through and catalogued by the theatre's team of archive volunteers. The complete collection will then be housed in the archives at the University of Nottingham’s Manuscripts and Special Collections Department.

Brian collected posters, playbills, photographs, paperwork, and personal mementoes during his time as stage manager(Image: Nottingham Theatre Royal)

Georgina Donohue, the venue’s Heritage Officer, said; “It’s an amazing donation, full of different materials and personal mementoes that have been collected over the years. From what we’ve looked through already there are some real highlights, such as The Mousetrap leaflet.

"Plus, on the back of some of the posters there are handwritten notes about schedules and technical information, so they literally are one-off pieces. We are excited to see what other gems are in the items donated.”

The Coates family have also dedicated a Name A Seat plaque at the Theatre Royal in memory of their father. The inscription will be affixed to seat J6 in the stalls for the next 25 years.