Photo credit: Sam Allard
A man in all the world's new fashion planted (Love's Labours Lost, Act 1, Sc 1)
Alistair McArthur - Head of Costume, RSC
Monday 22 August, 6.00 pm, Waterside
The RSC Costume Workshop occupies the site of the 1887 Memorial Theatre Scene Dock, across the street from the present theatre. It has recently undergone a major refurbishment, costing over £8 million. The 30-strong team of costume makers has moved back into the restored workshop after two years of absence. We have the largest in-house costume-making department of any British theatre, and the facilities have been upgraded so that the team can continue to produce the amazing items that we see on stage. The new workshop has been designed to host training and apprenticeships, enabling us to preserve and promote costume-making skills locally in the future. To get an idea of the new facilities, take a virtual tour.
This talk and guided tour of the new facilities will touch on the key elements of the redevelopment process, with some headlines around design. The focus will be on what really happened from first lockdown to when we finally got all staff in to work – over 12 months later. From the dream to the reality!
Alistair has been Head of Costume at the RSC since November 2002. Previously he was a freelance Costume Supervisor working at The Royal opera House, The Royal National Theatre and other companies.
