There has been a major project under way at the theatre – a revamp of our extensive wardrobe department.

Since 1 July, more than 50 members of the Company of Ten have been moving costumes out of the upstairs wardrobe down to the main stage, and helping with much needed rennovations for the wardrobe rooms.

Although it would be impossible to count the number of items moved, here are some vital statistics:

• The blouses were hung on a fly bar above the stage and they stretched all the way across – that’s 7 metres of blouses
• There were 25 metres of rails taken up by ladies dresses, coats, suits and skirts
• Men’s clothes took up about 20 metres, plus about another 6 metres of military items
• We were able to give away some costumes at The Cottonmill Gathering Community event
• Overall we hope to have reduced our stock by about 20%

‘We would like to thank everyone who has helped. This has been a perfect example of the Company of Ten doing what it does best – acting as a big team to achieve a collective goal, like a family, in fact,” said Gill Stratford, lifetime member and lead for the wardrobe team.

If you’d like to volunteer to get involved in this kind of project click here.

You can see the before and after photographs of one of the wardrobe rooms below.