Amber Marwood is Costume Mistress at Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club. Below she tells a little about her role with the Theatre.
I joined the Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club in 2017, and my first role was helping backstage for a show in which my dad was appearing.
I have assisted backstage, made props, sourced costumes, and appeared on stage myself, but one of the jobs I love the most is sourcing costumes for the shows.
In February 2018, I was asked to source costumes and props for the first time for The Boadicea of Britannia Street. I was helped by my friend, Alex, who is also the Costume Convenor for the Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club. Alex has taught me a great deal about costumes over the years, and I have learned so much from her.
I have now sourced costumes for several of our productions, including a pantomime in which I also performed. I have also assisted Alex with costuming for other shows.
Costuming can sometimes be really difficult, while at other times it can be very simple, with only a few costumes needing to be sourced.
One of my favourite shows to costume was Blackadder the Third in September 2023. This was also one of the most challenging shows I have costumed for, as it required a lot of period costumes and Regency-style wigs.
On this occasion, I was invited to Tolethorpe Hall by Miriam Davies, Costume Designer and Head of Wardrobe at Stamford Shakespeare Company, to source Regency costumes. I was thrilled to be given access to the entire costume department.
Each night, before the performance, you would find me backstage in the dressing room, styling the Regency wigs for the cast.
Another responsibility of the costume mistress is during the ‘Get In’, where I can be found backstage in the dressing rooms, steaming and ironing costumes for the cast. I enjoy this and find it very therapeutic. I love seeing how the dressing room looks at the ‘Get In’, with all the costumes labelled and neatly hanging, and then how it looks at the end of show week!
Sometimes, I can be steaming and ironing all day, particularly for the larger, more intricate costumes, but it is always worth it in the end.
At the dress rehearsal, I like to sit in the audience so I can give my final notes to the cast about their costumes.
At the end of each show, the set is taken down, the props are returned to the rehearsal room, and the cast goes home, but for me, the work starts again. I take the costumes home to wash before undertaking the fun task of putting them all away in the costume department, ready for the next show.