Catalogue Number
NMLH.2025.37.89
Object Name
Poster
Title
The Playwrights Co-operative Upstairs at the ICA
Place
Paddington Printshop, London
People
Paddington Printshop
Date
1979
Description
Screenprinted poster, "The Playwrights Co-operative Upstairs at the ICA [Institute of Contemporary Arts". In the centre is an illustration of a person smiling with their eyes closed, with half of their face covered by a theatrical masks that is smiling with its mouth open. Small text along the curved edge of the drawing reads "Rehearsed readings by professional actors with a discussion afterwards". At the bottom is the list of plays: Workers of the World Confess by George Byatt; Bush People by Peter Rodda and Jo Shallis; Thieves by Irene Caotes; My Friend the Assassin by Greg Branson; Pact by Taggart Deike; Act of Union by Seamus Finnegan; Admiral by Murray Shelmerdine; The Biography of John Gen AKA OK Smythe by Jankowski; and Hoi Chi by Elizabeth Gowens. The background is a bright green.
This poster was made by Paddington Printshop, a community graphic design and print workshop in West London, co-founded by John Phillips and Pippa Smith. Between 1975-1991, the centre printed over 400 designs for left-wing community organisations. These publicised local political campaigns such as housing rights and food co-ops, to social gatherings including play days, gardening clubs, gigs and festivals. Their do-it-yourself style was part of the proto-punk ethos.
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