Too much theatre memorabilia is being lost to private collectors, says David Hare

John Osborne ‘did something no one else did in the theatre in the 20th century, as Arthur Miller said, to reconnect it to real life’, says David Hare. Photograph: Jane Bown

The vital memorabilia and personal effects of our greatest playwrights should be secured in a reinvigorated national theatre collection, according to David Hare, who said too many were going into private hands.

Hundreds of pieces from the playwright John Osborne’s collection are going up for auction on Wednesday evening, with the proceeds used to support the Arvon Foundation, which bought his house after his death in 1994. His former home, the Hurst, is used today as a location for writing retreats and courses in Shropshire.