Exhibition: Costume at the National Theatre

The National Theatre's Costume department sources, constructs, alters, repairs, organises and maintains costumes for over 20 new productions on the South Bank each year. Meanwhile, the Costume Hire department circulates costumes from its stock of 70,000 to films, photoshoots and other theatre productions.

This team of 46 can produce everything from muddy uniforms to giant caterpillars; dress an actor in a corset in under 60 seconds, and strive to ensure things look as good on the final performance as they did on the first. This new exhibition invites you into their world.

Featuring costumes from productions including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, War Horse, Follies and Antony and Cleopatra the exhibition visits each stage of the production process; from design to construction, sourcing and alterations, to dressing, repairs and laundering.

Costume at the National Theatre has been curated by Aoife Monks and is designed by Tom Paris. Both have worked closely with the NT Costume department and in consultation with designers Vicki Mortimer (Follies) and Katrina Lindsay (Small Island).

Ian has visited - review here.