his has been one of my major interests for many years. The costume is the actor's second skin, helping him or her to embody the character they are bringing to life. The variety of costumes needed is endless - accurate historical reproductions, total fantasy, realistic modern dress - the list goes on. They also need to fit well and be robust enough to stand years of use and washing.

I have created whole rows of costumes for Magic Factory's The Window , The Last Adventure and Uncle Vanya, as well as the  costumes for Three Kings, a traditional mediaeval Christmas play produced by Rudolf Steiner House. I also contributed to the 72 costumes needed for the Landor Theatre's acclaimed production of Sondheim's Follies in September 2006, as well as constructing costumes for the "STAR WARS" exhibition at County Hall in 2007 and Zenith's production of "David Copperfield " in 2008/9. Most recently I designed and made the costumes for "The Gift" at the Greenwich Playhouse in late 2009.

With all my designs, be they for theatre, fashion or even liturgical use, shapes and colours are equally important. However, the major feel of the era or the general atmosphere suggested by the play itself is the main factor in my designs. A thorough reading will give me my key colour scheme, be it highly contrasting bright colours or a relatively pale and sophisticated palette. Rich ornamentation and a variety of textures are also features of my costume design where appropriate - I feel an audience deserves an absorbing stage picture.

  
       
Uncle Vanya - May 2006
A major challenge for the designer, who needs to capture each individual character as well as remaining faithful to the period (1895). These photos mostly show the autumnal colours used for the last two acts; the more summery costumes used in Act 1 can be seen in the first photo and on the Vanya page in the Drama section.
Click on an image for a larger view

The Last Adventure - March 2006
This dreamlike play has no defined setting, so it was decided to place it around a century ago, in a warm and sunny climate, indicated by the blue, cream and beige colour scheme.  Some of the costumes needed to transform, as some actors played multiple characters.

Three Kings - December 2004
This was a particular challenge, as the play is performed every year with a different cast , so all costumes were made to fit a 100cm/40" chest, and a rainbow of colours were used, one for each character.  Then each costume used as many shades as possible within its own hue, to create a rich cascade of colour across the stage.

The Window - June 2004
A surreal fantasy, this play needed costumes, masks, props and a set which captured its unique atmosphere.  Using colours inspired by Chagall, and dominated by red, black and white, a rich fantasy world was created, which shifted from joyful to menacing as the plot unfolded.

General Costumes
Assorted, varying from carnival to liturgical!