The Wendy Beavis collection has over 120 letters handwritten on fragile air-mail paper, which were given to the Shakespeare Institute Library by a friend of Wendy Beavis. In the early 1950s, Wendy had the unique experience of touring India as an actor in the Shakespeareana company. It had been founded by Geoffrey Kendal who, accompanied by his wife, and his daughters Jennifer and Felicity, performed Shakespeare in India and Pakistan.
Wendy was from Birmingham, which is also where she completed her drama training. Wendy joined Kendal's company in her early 20s and the collection consists of the regular letters she wrote home to her parents.
The letters start as she travels by ship to India. Wendy writes vivid accounts of the company’s journeys. They travelled without a pre-determined itinerary, doubling back on themselves, taking detours and re-treading the same ground several times. The company's props and costumes had to go with them, and were occasionally mislaid, damaged or soaked by monsoon rains. Sometimes lack of money meant they could not move at all, for cash flow was sporadic and the actors were not always paid on time.
Sometimes they would perform, and be grandly accommodated, in a Maharajah's palace, or they might be out in the wilds trying to create a make-shift theatre in the most unsuitable of spaces. As well as Shakespeare, the company performed plays such as 'The Importance of Being Earnest', and packed houses were the norm.
Wendy writes of her Shakespearean roles and mentions how her acting skills develop. She wrote often about the costumes, which included adapting costumes, as well as repairs and sewing. The maintenance and repairs of stage sets was also a necessary task shared by all the actors.
Wendy's best friend, Jennifer, the Kendals' eldest daughter, is her confidante throughout. The two share rooms, shop, chat and eat tremendous meals; curries, all sorts of local delicacies, fruits and cakes.
When the tour nears its end, Wendy has spent over a year in India. Kendal hopes to take the company to America next and Wendy is keen to go. The American contract falls through, however, and Wendy returns home to England. Wendy never acted again and later became a secretary for the NHS.