Behind the scenes: preparation for 'Twelfth Night'

It’s not long now until Twelfth Night comes to our very own Cambridge Riverside amphitheatre, and while the actors learn their lines and the director gets to grips with the unique staging, we’ve been behind the scenes to capture a few shots of the cast in rehearsal and to explore the work of our diligent costume team.

One of the most intriguing challenges the actors face is the lack of a backstage area for costume changes. Without the luxury of an off-stage space, our incredible costume team—Ruth, Penny, Lorna, and Heather, with Yvette helping at the outset—has had to come up with some truly ingenious quick-change solutions. To avoid the distracting noise of Velcro with the audience close by, they’ve devised other creative methods to ensure smooth transitions between characters.

Given the complexity of having four actors playing 11 roles, the team decided early on to assign each character a specific colour. This visual cue helps the audience easily identify who’s who, even during the swiftest of changes.

Working within a tight budget, each actor dove into their own wardrobes to find pieces that could be repurposed for the production. Our costume team has then tailored these items to suit each character perfectly. Additionally, these talented seamstresses have crafted bespoke items from scratch when needed, making the most of materials sourced online.

The dedication of our costume team doesn’t stop at the initial fitting. Throughout rehearsals and performances, they stay on standby, ready to make last-minute tweaks and repairs to ensure every costume remains in top shape, even if an actor encounters a wardrobe malfunction.

Join us for a magical afternoon on Midsummer Lawn on 13th or 14th July as the team bring Twelfth Night to life with creativity, colour and a lot of heart. We can’t wait to share this adventure with you!

The performers: Sam, Michael (director), Bidi and Gill (and Sam again!)