On retiring from her role as archivist of the Performing Arts Collection after almost four decades, Jo Peoples has put together a showcase of her favourite items in an exhibition titled Peoples’ Choice.

Peoples’ Choice is a collection of performing arts memorabilia from the Performing Arts Collection archives at the Adelaide Festival Centre, including some pieces that have never been on show to the public.

“There is the shirt worn by Geoffrey Rush as David Helfgott in the film Shine, which was given by Scott Hicks; a costume Cate Blanchett wore in The Seagull before she became ‘big-time’, and something Jacki Weaver wore in Entertaining Mr Sloane for the State Theatre Company,” says Peoples.

“There are Punch and Judy puppets, a Melba Accordion used by the Withers family and the head-dress worn by the Indian in the Village People while doing a tour through Adelaide.”

In 1979, the Performing Arts Collection was established by Don Dunstan and Colin Ballantyne as a way to document and preserve the story of the arts in South Australia.

“In the performing arts, once a show is over the only record that it ever occurred are fading memories and memorabilia – a ticket or a program kept as a souvenir and eventually discarded,” says Peoples, who started out as the secretary/cataloguer of the collection in 1979.

“I had a background in theatre and music, acting and playing double bass, and I just fell into the job.”

A portrait of comedian Roy Rene by Harold Thornton, from the Performing Arts Collection.

Ever since seeing a production of the musical Salad Days at the age of eight in the old Crystal Theatre in Broken Hill, Peoples has had a passion for theatre and music. She went on to act with the Broken Hill Repertory Society (of which her father was one of the founders in 1944) and for the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. She still plays double bass with the Unley Symphony Orchestra.

“I’m not museum trained, but I was in the right place in the right time when they were setting up the collection – I’d never get my job today if I had to apply!”

After 18 months as secretary/cataloguer, Peoples was promoted to manage the collection, which has grown from just a few boxes of programs to more than 150,000 items.

“Many items have been donated by artists, their families and theatre-goers,” says Peoples.

“There are oil paintings, shoes, wigs, scrapbooks, the jewellery Clara Serena wore on stage in a London opera in the 1920s and some very eccentric costume jewellery owned by Dame Edith Sitwell.”

Jewellery worn by Clara Serene in Aida.

In the past, exhibitions were built around a theme or to tie in with a particular theatre production, but this is the first time in almost four decades that Peoples has had the chance to show off some of her most treasured items from the collection.

“I’ve spent the past 35 years helping to collect, document and preserve the story of the arts in South Australia – if it’s important to have a museum for cricket, I think it’s even more important to have a museum devoted to the performing arts,” she says.

“Almost everyone has enjoyed some aspect of the performing arts and knows how the experience has enriched their lives.”

The exhibition is being displayed in the Festival Theatre Foyer showcases, with each item accompanied by information and the name of the donor.

“Over the past 35 years I think I have curated about 60-70 exhibitions, written millions of words, met hundreds of wonderful theatre practitioners and fed my addiction for theatre performances happily – what more could I have asked for?” Peoples says.

Peoples’ Choice is showing at the Adelaide Festival Centre in the Festival Theatre Foyer until May 31, 2015.