Shakespeare in Elizabethan Costume: 'Period Dress' in Twenty-First-Century Performance

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The meanings originally communicated by Elizabethan and Jacobean dress have long been confined to history. Why, then, have doublets, hose, ruffs and farthingales featured in many Shakespeare productions staged since the turn of the 21st century This book scrutinizes the popular practice of costuming Shakespeares plays in Elizabethan and Jacobean dress. It considers why this approach to design appeals to contemporary directors, designers and audiences, and how it has shaped the meaning of Shakespeares works in specific performance contexts. Informed by original interviews with several prominent theatre practitioners, including Emma Rice, Gregory Doran, Jenny Tiramani, Simon Godwin, Stephen Brimson Lewis and Tom Piper, Shakespeare in Elizabethan Costume explores how various 21st-century Shakespeare productions have drawn on myths and desires associated with early modern clothing. Its discussions range from the practicalities of historical reconstruction to the appeal of early modern sartorial culture as an embodiment of wonder, spectacle and the supernatural. Productions discussed include Shakespeares Globe's production of Henry V (1997), the National Theatre's Twelfth Night (2017) and the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Tempest (2016). Ella Hawkins examines the minutiae of modern design how seams are sewn, whence fabrics are sourced as well as the widespread cultural movements that have produced our modern relationship with the period of Shakespeares lifetime. This is the first book to explore fully the significance of Elizabethan-inspired design in contemporary Shakespearean performance. Shakespeare in Elizabethan Costume reframes so-called period costuming as a dynamic collection of practices capable of refashioning textual meanings, reflecting present-day political and societal shifts and confronting contemporary injustices.

Reviews

Ella Hawkins has produced a detailed and insightful study of the ways in which directors, designers and audiences negotiate expectations and beliefs about Shakespeare, England and the past and the present through the use and interpretation of period costume. Drawing on key 21st-century productions of Shakespeare, the book is a new and brilliant resource for understanding the ways in which costume constructs and signifies meaning on stage and offers a model for thinking about how we can look at period costume with new eyes. * Kate Dorney, University of Manchester, UK *
Shakespeare in Elizabethan Costume reveals the problems and opportunities offered by authentic dress in modern productions, contrasting contemporary stage Jacobethan costume with actual clothing from the time of Shakespeare. Backed by fresh research into early modern dress, and interviews with current costume-makers and directors, it is indispensable for anyone interested in costume in the time of Shakespeare and now contemporary performance, cultural history and the study of material culture. * Tiffany Stern, University of Birmingham, UK *

Author Bio

Ella Hawkins is a researcher at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, UK. Her research focuses on costume design for Shakespeare. She has advised the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal Shakespeare Company on representations of Shakespeares life and works, and has created content for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.