The Society for Theatre Research was formed at a public meeting in the bomb-damaged Old Vic on 15 June 1948 by a bunch of luminaries from both the profession and the fledgling world of theatre research, summoned by the editors of Theatre Notebook, which from its foundation in 1945 had been devoted to this new field: in 1948 there was only one British University theatre department, at Bristol.

The Society's achievements during its first sixty years include the setting up of the umbrella organisation, the International Federation for Theatre Research; the insertion into the act, which abolished the censorship powers of the Lord Chamberlain's Office, of a clause that ensured that the good Lord's more positive function, as a repository of the script for every play given public performance, be continued by the British Library; and the creation, after a twelve-year campaign, of a dedicated Theatre Museum on its own site.