The Players: Costume, wigs, weapons and make-up

Background

Costumes

The Royal Shakespeare Company stages over 30 plays a year in Stratford, in London and on tour. They use 150 actors in 500 different roles. Each character has to have a costume specially designed. Behind the scenes, the RSC can make anything possible – beaten-up characters, creatures from another world, or nuns from this one, and blood-and-guts theatrical effects.

The Designer's role in the costume-making process is to help the costume department create work that best fits with his vision. He gives as much information and help as possible while at the same time relying on their skills.

The costume drawings illustrate period and shape. Costumes and set together create the visual style of the production. Once agreed, they are presented to the wardrobe departments. The aim of this presentation is to familiarise the workshop with the basic theme of the play in order to show the scope of the production and give an idea of the work involved. The Designer inspires them with his vision. This will usually be something new and interesting that they have not done before.

Fabrics

Before the costumes can be made, all the materials and accessories must be chosen – a crucial part of the Costume Supervisor's job. She goes through the designs with the Designer. They both go to look for suitable fabrics. This can be daunting: the Designer now has to fit his sketches on paper to the real world of fabrics. The Costume Supervisor has a good idea of what is needed. Fabrics must have the right weight for a given garment. The budget is another consideration. Also, the costumes have to last for two years. They can be dyed if the right colour cannot be found.

Dyeing

The costumes should look authentic to the period and the character. The skills of the Dyeing and Distressing Department in Stratford achieve this. The dyers have to experiment with the fabric to see what sort of dye works best. They get to know the fabrics. They get to know the colours as a painter would. They even dye feathers, shoes, zips, lace and buttons. Dyeing can take days. While they are working the dyers occasionally cut off a piece of material to study its progress.

Ageing

The costumes have to look lived-in. They often have to be 'broken down' to achieve this effect. This involves singeing, sandpapering and even using a cheese grater. When the fabrics have been treated in this way, they have some stitches put in to make them last.

Fittings

The costume-making process includes fittings at which the actors have the opportunity to try on their costumes at an early stage. There may be several fittings before every detail is agreed and a costume can be completed. The costumes must end up looking like clothes. At the fittings the actors have a chance to give their opinion about the costumes.

The costume can affect an actor's approach to the part. For instance, wearing a high-collared shirt can make you carry your head in a confident or arrogant way. The way you deliver your lines will also be affected. Costume is a fundamental contributor to an actor's performance.

Costume Making

There are many more parts for men than women in Shakespeare, so the larger of the two wardrobe departments is the men's. The Head of Men's Wardrobe must talk to the Designer to get a clear idea what is required. There are plenty of reference books available. A pattern is made from calico and placed on a stand to see how it looks before using the final material.

Once the fittings are agreed, the two experienced teams of makers take the material prepared by the cutters and stitch the costumes together. It takes over 5,000 hours for the wardrobe departments to create the costumes for Measure for Measure. The ladies' wardrobe produces very different shapes from the men's and uses different specialist skills.

Make-Up

Theatre make-up is not like ordinary make-up. It can be used to create dramatic effects. Pompey in Measure for Measure gets beaten up and has to have his make-up altered accordingly. The Director decides how 'bad' he should look, and talks to the actor to find out what he can cope with. If a scab is being used, and a day elapses in the play, the scab must be altered to reflect the passage of time.

Caliban, in Anthony Ward's design for The Tempest, has full-body make-up. This is a waterproof barrier cream called 'skin'. It takes 20 minutes to apply – and a long time to remove!

Hats and Jewellery

Period detail is important from head to toe. The hat must be in proportion to the costume. During costume fittings it is decided how big it should be. It can change a lot during this process. Character is important: the hat maker must think how the character would look and what he or she would do in the hat. The hat also has to suit the actor.

Blood Effects

The Spanish Tragedy ends in a blood bath. Tom Piper's design required some special blood effects. The Head of Wigs and Make-Up read the play and took notes on the various effects involved. One character bites his tongue out, and all the principal characters die in a blood bath. A calf's tongue was selected and had to be cut to size. One character, who has to slit his own throat, had a colostomy tube attached to his neck. A bottle of blood was concealed near his waist; the blood had to be runny enough to run up the tube.

Daggers with false handles are also used. The handles can be unscrewed and filled with blood; when the handle is squeezed the blood is released.

Pockets are also used to conceal blood bags. Bel-Imperia has to stab herself; the blood bag is concealed in her cleavage. But the Director wanted her to die in a pool of blood, so she made sure that she fell in the same place every night and blood was pumped up through a hole in the floor from a container below using a stirrup pump.

Conclusion

A combination of skills and teamwork is required to create the world of the play. Those who work backstage have to be single-minded, committed, flexible and involved. There is a lot of back-up and support. Their work when it succeeds is very fulfilling. It is great for them to be part of the creative process.