Surprises in store as the RSC raises curtain on its archives
Costumes worn by stars and tricks of trade revealed in new attraction
THE Royal Shakespeare Company is to open up its archives for the first time, sharing behind-the-scenes secrets of its most accomplished productions.
Anyone hoping to learn about hi-tech tricks of the trade, however, may be in for a surprise, as they disclose techniques even a schoolboy could master.
The permanent visitor attraction, called The Play’s The Thing, will open in June as part of the restoration of the oldest part of the company’s Stratford-Upon-Avon theatre, the Swan Wing, built in 1879.
The dress worn by Vivien Leigh for Macbeth will be on display together with outfits for Richard Burton and Sir Laurence Olivier.
Other offerings include costumes worn by David Tennant in a 1996 production of As You Like It and outfits for Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen from a 1976 staging of Macbeth.
Costumes worn by Dame Helen Mirren, who has appeared in productions including Antony and Cleopatra in 1983, will also go on show.
One section will detail the gory tricks the RSC employs to convince audiences of dramatic death scenes. It will also show how broken bones are accompanied by the snapping of a carrot in the wings to create an authentic sound.
Make-up techniques include using a concoction of breakfast cereal and glue, painted dull red, to create scabs on actors.
And the strongest of stomachs will learn how bowls of cold soup splashed on the floor are used to replicate the sound of vomit or how actors fall realistically as if they have been stabbed.
Visitors will also be able to experience standing on the stage, using interactive digital technology, try on costumes for themselves and design their own sets.
Geraldine Collinge, director of events and exhibitions, said: “I love the fact we can be so technologically innovative, but when we need to create the sound of a neck breaking we’ll still use a broken carrot.
“The secret ways we do things are often straightforward: some soup, rice crispies or tea bags to age paper.
“It will be all the things you don’t normally get to hear, from the mouths of the people who have done it.”
The project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, will show off some of the thousands of items currently stored in a warehouse on the outskirts of town, detailing more than a century of productions. They include scripts used by actors, prompt sheets and props, with some items from the pre-First World War and inter-war periods, and many more from the 1940s onwards.
The Play’s The Thing opens on June 21 to coincide with the RSC’s Midsummer celebrations.