Think about the relationship between the actors on stage and the audience and importantly what their sightlines are – you don’t want to build something huge that half the audience can’t see the stage!

Costume, as a theatrical element within performance, is usually forgotten about when analysing theatrical performances. This misunderstanding is extremely relevant within the productions of Shakespeare’s plays, as Jean MacIntyre points out, that when attention is paid to the imagery of clothing in his work it rarely considers the actor’s costume on stage [3]. Unlike other elements which make up the world of a performance, costume is the only one intrinsically linked with an actor’s body. The choice of costume is not only shaped by the directors’ decisions and the space in which the event is happening in, it is also shaped by the actors’ analysis of the play. It is then through the analysis of the costume that we can better understand the intentions of the play [4]. Imagin you’re a costume designer. The director wants you to design costumes for the witches and Macbeth’ the play will be sent in a future dystopian society. You must explain the design choices you made. Acting companies who were based in London needed a noble patron – an aristocrat who would be granted a licence to allow the company to perform. The company would be named after the noble who was their patron. Shakespeare’s company were the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, and the actors all had shares in the company. Their main rivals were the Admiral’s Men, whose patrons owned the company, and merely employed the actors. Macbeth’¸ dir. Polly Findlay, Royal Shakespeare Company Performance at Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 21 March -18 September 2018. First watched 14th June 2020, re-accessed 22nd September 2020.

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When it came to fabricating the costumes, how much of it did you produce in-house? And how did the collaborations with Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, and Yves Saint Laurent come about? There are different kinds of characters in the play; soldiers and generals, thanes and kings, ladies and witches, (and a goddess). We would like you to use costume to help to show the differences between these characters. Think about what materials, symbols or accessories you can use to help show the character’s status and personality. The audience for this production will mainly be schools and young people from across London and Birmingham, so the mood boards must connect to them. The play was written several hundred years ago, but you can choose any setting you think will engage your audience. Our production is contemporary, but you can take inspiration from any time period or anywhere you choose. The acoustics of the Globe and other theatres were poor, so sound did not carry well. In addition the audience would be talking, moving around and may even be having fights. Actors had to boom their lines in a loud and carrying voice. They would accompany their lines with exaggerated gestures so people could understand what they were saying. To make the bags of blood, the actors would fill animal bladders with animal blood. If the scene was particularly gory they might also use pigs’ intestines to throw across the stage.

Shakespeare tried to flatter the Earl of Southampton into being his patron by dedicating his first long poem, Venus and Adonis, to the Earl. It seems to have worked – he published a second long poem also dedicated to the Earl. In this year’s production, the witches go through three costume changes throughout the play – we will explore the concept behind these costumes and discuss how they create meaning in regard to the themes and characters within the play. GIVE IT A GO The king or queen might occasionally commission a play or pay especially for a performance but would not be the full patron of the company. The exception to this was the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, who became the King’s Men when James I came to the throne and took over as patron of their company. James loved the theatre and the company performed at court twice as often as they had under Elizabeth. Did you know?

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In this week's blog, CS Ambassador Chelsey Lewington discusses the role of costume, heritage and identity in Shakespeare's ‘Macbeth’.