Regional Theatre Years

Martin Barrass as Sinbad the Sailor. My first production as pattern cutter at York Theatre Royal in 1982

So, I had graduated from Wimbledon and, motivated solely by the promise of relocation costs (my parents lived close by and I saw it as an opportunity to move all my stuff for free) I applied for a job as a Pattern Cutter at Theatr Clwyd. For my interview I wore a gold bow tie, made for me by Dulcie, my flat mate, and ox blood shoes with gold toe caps. The shoes were brand new and the walk from the bus stop was miles so I arrived hobbling in agony and sweating only to face a supervisor who hated bow ties! Not my best start.

However, somehow, I got the job and was quickly nicknamed John the Cutter. The job was initially for one show only and that show was Volpone by Ben Jonson and it featured exquisite costumes designed by Eric Doughney. At Wimbledon we were used to having three weeks to make one costume so on being presented with various designs I asked which one I was making and they said all of them!

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. My first production as Costume Supervisor! The bride second from the left is Michaela Strachan in her first job on stage.

Well, that phased me a bit but, thankfully, I did have the assistance of Di, a women of “considerable” years who I thought hated me as she had applied for the same job but had been overlooked. (it turned out that Di and I got on so well we remain good friends to this day).  So, after my initial panic had calmed down we were all called into a production meeting only to be told that the show had been cancelled and I was told to pack my bag! But then fortunately, they felt sorry for me and changed their minds and said I could stay. So, my first foray at Theare Clwyd was as wig dresser on Taffy, a well known Welsh Drama (is it?) followed by The Cloggies, An Everyday Saga in the Life of Clog Dancing Folk which was based on a long-running cartoon by Bill Tidy featured in Private Eye from 1967 to 1981. It was a musical, but not a very good one….

I stayed at Theatr Clwyd for a year, one in which the whole theatre went on strike except me and one other person. Not because I was a conscientious objector but because, whilst I was in a theatre workers union, most of the rest of the theatre staff were in a union for council workers as Theatr Clwyd was owned and run by Mold County Council so in effect they were all council workers. This meant that if the theatre had shut down we would all be reallocated jobs that were the nearest ours at the Theatre – apparently mine would have been making curtains for council houses (but those curtains would have been amazing)! Sadly, the strike got filthy so instead of crossing picket lines I lived in the theatre for a month and my dad had to bring me a bags of clothes to see me through.

The Merchant of Venice, my first production at Mercury Theatre Colchester. Portia’s gown is made from the most amazing silk dupion fabric.

I final left Theatr Clwyd in October 1982 (much to the sadness of the production manager who begged me to stay) to go to York Theatre Royal where my friend Cathy was the Costume Supervisor. My first production as pattern cutter/maker was Sinbad the Sailor Pantomime starring a boy from Emmerdale and the infamous Berwick Kaler as Dame. Then we were doing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It was a re-imagining of the show they had done there the previous year and no expense was spared as York Theatre Royal were sending it out on tour ending up in the West End of London. It was designed by Hugh Durrant who was later to work with the Emmanuelles and these days designs the costumes for the annual London Palladium Pantomime. During this time Cathy, who had convinced me to move to York in the first place, decided she was destined to work at Glyndebourne and left me to it in the middle of the production! I didn't mind as I got my first credit as a Costume Supervisor.

Pygmalion at Mercury Theatre Colchester. I physically made the costumes in the centre and left. I didn’t make the blue one that was made by Fifi Trixibelle.

The Director of York Theatre Royal was a complete tour de force, very demanding and very precise but boy oh boy, that's where I learned my love of doing the best I possibly can at whatever job I am doing. We would have a costume parade the night before the technical and dress rehearsals began and they would go on for hours. Every actor in every costume change was paraded in front of the Director and he would inspect them all like they were haute couture gowns questioning everything. He was very famous for insisting that when we were doing a chorus line of girl dancers each would put their on their frocks individually and then he would call them all in together and stand them in a line. If ALL the hems for the ALL dresses were not an identical amount of inches from the floor then they would have to be redone! I remember thinking the first time it happened what difference does it make? But as soon as I saw it on the first night I got it – all those dresses all landing in the same place – bliss! Mind you it did mean after most costume parades we would be up all night doing the Directors notes. Many a time the rest of the crew would come in for work the next morning and the wardrobe team would be there still sewing and still drinking gin!

So, although I was only three months at York I really learned a lot but it was also quite a tough time. I rented a very damp attic room from a friend of the theatres and I swear it rained every single day I was there! I even saw York Minster burning from my velux window in the roof. However, I loved doing the shows and learned a lot.

Serena Gordon wears one of my favourite costumes made from wool worsted it was a dream to sew.

So, in January 1983 I left York to go to the Mercury Theatre in Colchester. The Director of Seven Brides was just starting there and wanted me to go with him and I stayed for four happy years as Costume Supervisor working on a huge variety of shows from Shakespeare to comedies about vasectomy clinics from Oklahoma to one woman shows starring the likes Honor Blackman and Kate O'Mara. When I later moved to London I often would have tea with Honor and when I moved to the country who should live four doors away but Kate O'Mara! She used to cause a riot in The Poppin, our village community shop, telling the volunteer behind the counter that of course she had ordered the focaccia breads and would sweep out of the shop with them Then later, Jean-from-the-Caravans would come to collect her bread order only to be told Kate had already taken it!

My four year reign at the Mercury came to an end when I got a call from 20th Century Costumes in London wanting to head hunt me to be their Head of Production. It was time to move on to movies!

My office in Colchester was in an old vicarage. There were room dividers which I thought were a waste of space so I had these cubby holes made so we could use the space to store all our shoes and boots! This photo was probably taken in 1987.