About this Archive

Actor, director, artist, drag performer, comedian

Administrative/biographical history

Born in Huddersfield, Ivan Cartwright has had a long and prolific career in the theatre as an actor and director, performing with the Bloolips drag troupe in the early 1990s in shows including ‘Get Hur’ which toured internationally, in solo shows including ‘It Took More Than One Man …’ (1996) and in plays including ‘Sexpress Yourself’ (1993). He also was Assistant Director for the 1993 production of ‘The Dish’ by Paul Hallam, performed by the Bette Bourne Company. He has also appeared in films including ‘Velvet Goldmine’ (1997) and ‘Alexis Arquette: She’s My Brother’ (2007). Since 1999 he has appeared as compere at screenings of ‘Singalong Sound of Music’ at the Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square.

From 2008 Ivan studied at Camberwell College of Arts and has produced works in paint, watercolour, collage, pencil, ink, pastels, fabric, linocut printing, lithography and digital printing. His work has been shown in exhibitions including ‘Envy Lines’ (2011).

Scope and content

Papers of Ivan Cartwright, including scripts, research material, artwork (works on paper, acrylic and canvas including life drawings, prints, paintings, watercolours, work in pastels, pencil and ink), logbooks, sketchbooks, photographs, performance notes, publicity material (posters, flyers), correspondence, audio and video cassette recordings of performances, press clippings, family history material and diaries, [1951-2019].