New Victoria Wood exhibition now open to the public

A major exhibition about Victoria Wood opens to the public today (Tuesday 21 April) at Bury Art Museum.

Created to mark the tenth anniversary of her passing, it celebrates the life and achievements of Bury’s most famous daughter and much-loved entertainer.

Courtesy of Victoria Wood's Literary Estate, and her family members, the exhibition features original scripts, letters, song sheets and photos which all once belonged to Victoria.

Among the items on display are:

• Notebooks full of Victoria's ideas, and original lyrics for the song “The Ballad of Barry and Freda” (aka “Let's Do It”)

• Photos from her childhood in Bury, her teenage years and as a student at Birmingham University

• Scripts, some of which are handwritten and annotated by Victoria, including “Talent”, “Victoria Wood Presents”, “Dinnerladies”, “As Seen on TV”, “Housewife 49”, and “Acorn Antiques the Musical”

• Victoria's awards, including her OBE, CBE and her BAFTAs

The exhibition will also include a video montage, which shows ‘behind the scenes’ footage of the filming of “Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast”, which was broadcast on BBC One on Christmas Day 1992, and a recording of a rehearsal of “Dinnerladies” before a live audience.

Characters from her stand-up routine, such as Kimberley's Friend and Hayley Bailey, the step aerobics instructor, can be seen, as can Victoria performing the song “The Ballad of Barry and Freda”.

This exhibition also features the work of photographers Andy Hollingworth and Harry Borden, whose work shows many of Victoria’s collaborators. Manchester artist Stanley Chow has created a new artwork of Victoria for the exhibition.

A VIP reception was held on Saturday (18 April) when visitors were treated to a performance of Lucky BagS, a piece celebrating the characters in Victoria’s work, and her relationship with Julie Walters.

Originally commissioned and funded by the Victoria Wood Literary Estate, Happy festival, Bury Council and creative producer Billie Klinger, it featured choreography by Ruth Jones, costumes designed by Alison Hamilton, music specially composed by Janet Wolstenholme and innovative set-design by Ben Cook, with dancers and co-creators Clare Fildes and Sophie Trueman.

Susan Lord, museum and exhibition curator, said: “We are thrilled to hold this exhibition in this most important year, and we are grateful to Victoria’s Literary Estate and her family for lending us so many unique items relating to Victoria’s award-winning career and her home life too.

“Many of these items are never seen by the public, and we also have a range of exclusive items in our shop which have been created especially for this exhibition.”

Bury Art Museum is open from 10am to 5pm (Tuesday to Friday) and from 10am to 4.30pm on Saturday. Admission is free.

The Victoria Wood exhibition is expected to run until late summer.