Three weeks to go until the start of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and we caught up with Helen Coleman in the theatre dressing room. Helen is managing the costumes for Much Ado and with 23 characters and multiple costume changes this is no small task. To help keep track of all the requirements she has drawn up a table showing what each character needs for every scene. She also makes extensive use of sticky labels so that once she has found a pair of shoes or item of clothing for a particular character and scene they don’t get lost.
This production of Much Ado is set in 1982 and while the occasional item from later in the decade may be slipped in she has tried to stick to this date. A major criteria is how the costumes will look together on stage and some beautiful individual items weren’t used because they didn’t work with the overall look.
Some Progress members are old enough to remember the 80s (!) and many have lent their own clothes and shoes that they wore at the time. The other main source of costumes has been Ebay. Several dresses were bought for under £10 each and an 80s style wedding dress cost £35 – much cheaper than hiring or making. The only hired items have been uniforms for the men.
The ball scene has been the most fun to costume; the women will be wearing beautiful party dresses with fab shoes and the men full dress uniforms. Helen says the most nostalgic items for her have been the Laura Ashley dresses as she spent the 80s either pregnant or with young children so wore long comfortable dresses more often than disco wear.
To see all these costumes in action come and see Much Ado About Nothing it runs from 26th November to 5th December 2009. Tickets available from the Hexagon 0118 9606060.
Coming up ...
Auditions for 'A Couple of Poor English-speaking Poles' by Dorota Maslowska on Sunday 29th November at 2.30 and Tuesday 8th December 7.30 both at Progress Theatre.
See progresstheatre.co.uk for more details.
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