Sweeney Todd (Shoreditch Town Hall)
By Steven Sondheim & Hugh Wheeler
Director: Sally Ann Gritton
Costume Designer: Rhyannon Richardson
Set Designer: Alison Taylor
Lighting Designer: Fridthjofur Thorsteinsson
This was a version of the 1979 Steven Sondheim musical “Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street”. The spectacular interior of Shoreditch Town Hall provided a wonderful backdrop to Alison Taylor’s set design for the show. As this was a very physical piece we decided to keep the period feel to the costumes but not to have any movement hampering floor length skirts. Instead we gave the costumes a slightly more steam-punk feel, exposing underskirts and crinolines, union suits and corsets, and adding more vibrant colours and characters to the story as it went along.
Click here for link to full gallery (Cast 1)
Click here for link to full gallery (Cast 2)
Paddington & Great Aunt Lucy (Standon Calling)
These costumes were based on Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear and Great Aunt Lucy characters, and were constructed for Standon Calling festival 2014. Paddington’s costume has a suspended under-body beneath the duffel coat that means he keeps his rounded shape yet is light and moves easily.
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Blue Whistlers (Clifftown Theatre)
Devised by the Company
Director: Nick Hall
Costume Designer: Rhyannon Richardson
Set Designer: Carlos Moral Reis
Lighting Designer: Steve Owens
Set in the Wild West in the 1880s, this was a show devised and written by the company. Although the many legendary gunslingers and lawmen of the period were their starting point, there was also a desire to represent some of the strong female protagonists of the period too, as well as to showcase the physical skills of the students on the E15 Acting & Stage Combat course who made up the company. Because of the very physical nature of the piece, this created it’s own challenges as far as costume was concerned, combining period detail with ease of movement for the many fight scenes and dance pieces.
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Monsters Inc. (Standon Calling)
These costumes were based on Sully, Mike and Boo from Pixar’s Monsters Inc. and were constructed for Standon Calling festival 2011. To get Sully’s shape padding from a set of American football shoulder pads were used, with a suspended under-body attached to them. Despite his size and shape he is fully machine washable (very practical after a muddy festival!) with the padding in his tail and his dorsal spikes easily removable.
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The Clangers (Standon Calling)
These costumes were based on Oliver Postgate & Peter Firmin’s animated TV characters from the late1960s. They were constructed for Standon Calling festival 2009 (in collaboration with Karen Gurney & Alan Bower). The heads were made from Varaform attached to hard hats, and the waistband of each Clanger contained a hula hoop to keep its rounded shape. They even had integral pockets to hold essentials.
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Hot L Baltimore (Corbett Theatre)
By Lanford Wilson
Director: Che Walker
Set Designer: Alison Taylor
Set in the 1970s in the lobby of the crumbling Hotel Baltimore, the play focuses on the residents of the decaying hotel who are faced with eviction when the structure is condemned. The play draws it’s title from the hotel’s neon sign with it’s burned-out letter “e” which has never been replaced. For an interesting twist, some of the audience sat on stage amongst the chairs and tables of the cluttered and crumbling hotel lobby.
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Jack & the Beanstalk (Corbett Theatre)
Written and directed by: Caroline Eves
Set Designer: Alison Taylor
Lighting Designer: Esther Love
This production was a re-telling of the well loved fairy tale. The costume designs included a pantomime cow played by only one person, a set of comedy beans on the beanstalk, the wife of the giant wearing stilts, a singing harp, and of course the most outrageous Dame outfits, all with a passing nod in the direction of a medieval theme.
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Katch 22 Productions
The Walsall Illuminations 2004-2008
Director: Steve Kray
Katch 22 are a production company specialising in family entertainment. I have designed and made several costumes for them for several different shows at the Walsall Illuminations, including “The Sword in the Stone”, “Spooky Mansion”, “Keystone Cops”, “Aladdin” and “Charlie Chaplin”. They have provided some interesting challenges, in that most have incorporated a light up element to the costumes and needed to be waterproof. In the case of Charlie Chaplin he needed to be flame retardant as well as waterproof!