COSTUMES

Over the years we’ve bought, begged, borrowed, hired and made. The key figure in our wardrobe history has been Bampton resident and friend, Pauline Smith. Over the years she has been assisted by Jean Gray, Pat Smith and (currently) Anne Baldwin. Pauline first costumed us for Gazzaniga’s Don Giovanni in 1997 and took charge of almost every production until 2009, when she took (happily, temporary) ‘retirement’ from a task which is demanding and often frustrating. She has to deal with singers who provide inaccurate measurements, singers who don’t like wearing hats, singers whose pregnancy develops during the performance run, singers who drop their costumes on the floor, and directors who demand last-minute pockets for awkward-shaped props.

Pauline has wonderful instincts for colour and for the accessories which can ‘lift’ a costume and add to the humour of a comedy production. Pauline also manages our physical wardrobe, stored upstairs at the Village Hall.

The collection bursts at the seams, and she has had to fight a serious battle against moths (now fortunately decimated). Recently she and Anne have been engaged in yet another cull of costumes deemed inadequate or in poor condition, and the wardrobe is now physically in good shape and well organised. Another costume expert and close friend, Fiona Hodges, stepped in with L’infedeltà delusa in 2005 and went on to dress several shows for us, especially those requiring ‘period’ styles and corsets. We’ve also had excellent productions designed and managed by Vikki Medhurst and Jess Iliff, both professionals working mostly in film.

We were thrilled when Pauline (with Anne) came back to us for Fool Moon in 2022 and, now that they have come down to earth, they are with us again for At the Venice Fair in 2023.

Creating scenery is one of the most labour-intensive (and often expensive) aspects of a production and Bampton sets have varied enormously in complexity and effect. One of the vital design issues to be considered is whether it will stand up in strong winds and is waterproof; another is how to make a set suited to the very different appearances and environments of Bampton, Westonbirt and St John’s Smith Square.

Many of our sets have been Bampton-built and for many years from 2004 to 2018, our local master builders were Mike Wareham and Anthony Hall, the latter assisted by Trevor Darke. As the ‘Bampton Scenic Workshops’ they built everything from Mount Vesuvius to the inside of a low-cost aeroplane, constructions taking place both in Bampton back gardens and Andrew Hichens’ farm barn at Radcot. Painting has mostly been undertaken by Felicity Cormack, and occasionally Jeremy Gray. Materials have been recycled from window displays at John Lewis and Laura Ashley, from a Tate Gallery exhibition and from a discarded set donated by British Youth Opera.

For three of our four appearances at the Buxton Festival, much larger and complex sets were required, which were designed by Nigel Hook and built professionally. Since 2021, sets have been built by DSH Carpentry in Great Tew.

Props are vital to drama and comedy, and here the internet and Ebay are much searched. Chairs, crockery, glasses, trays are stored by us in abundance. Notable props have included a Punch and Judy Show, statues, fireworks, a Dalek, an Alphorn, a French guillotine (which alarmed passers-by in Bridge Street when Mike was building it), period telephones, books and magazines, helium balloons, bubble guns and many plastic fish. The 2022 production of Fool Moon required a signpost for the moon, and a massive magnet, both made by our latest prop-maker, Andy Collier.