OUT NOW - ON COSTUME CUTTING - MICHAL SHYNE
Today DTP release their interview with Michal Shyne, Costume Cutter at Theatr Clwyd. Michal discusses what initially drew her into the world of theatre costume and how a cutter negotiates between period, design, fabric, performance requirements and actors' tastes. Explore Cast and Creative Interviews
AND NOW AVAILABLE - BBC COLLECTION - SHAKESPEARE UNCOVERED
This week DTP released a further list of titles as part of their partnership with BBC Active, expanding the list of curriculum-mapped texts and insights available on Digital Theatre+.
Along with expanding their collection Shakespeare's Histories ever further, they now proudly release the full first season of the BBC's Shakespeare Uncovered series, in which theatrical heavyweights, including Sir Trevor Nunn, Joely Richardson and Jeremy Irons, share insights and enquiries into their favourite plays. Explore the BBC Collection.
Staff and students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland can ask at the library for login instructions.
We're the friendly, helpful Whittaker Library, here to help our performers and creatives with their literature, music and other information needs.
A rare and wonderful thing happened today - the music librarian was let loose in the Wardrobe Department. In 28 years, this was a first. (To be fair, she never asked before!) We needed a dummy, you see, and a Regency gown - to enhance our display of costume-making books. Do take a look - this is just a tiny selection from the attractive and informative costume books from the Whittaker Library, and we hope they'll appeal to some of our new students who'll be arriving in just a few weeks' time.
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is on two sites in Glasgow, the original one in Renfrew Street, and the other at Speirs Locks in Garscube Road. Our Library is in Renfrew Street, but we hope our costume and production students will find time to come and see what we've got, because the drama librarians have gathered these materials together over many years, and there's something for everyone- from beginner dressmakers, to would-be Sewing Bees. We also have a weekly book-fetching service on Fridays, so staff and students can request books to be delivered to Speirs Locks.
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If you need Scottish images for educational purposes, Scran is the place to go. The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Whittaker Library has a subscription for staff and students here.
- Pictures of Scotland as it is now, or in the past? Got it!
- Excerpts of famous old music collections, like the Scots Musical Museum? Nae bother!
- Audio or Video clips of not just music but other activities too? Yes, Scran has them.
- Ideas for costume designers? Certainly! (Take a look HERE.)
Here's the link:- http://www.scran.ac.uk/ . If you're not in the Conservatoire building, pick the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland from the list of institutions, and use your student or staff login.
The Whittaker Library supports our costumiers with a great selection of books and other resources. Here's a link to all our costume books - a very substantial collection! Don't hesitate to speak to our library staff if you need help sourcing books about costume-making. Our Drama and Ballet librarian is in charge of this collection.
Because our music librarian is a keen dressmaker, she also saves useful web-links on sewing clothes, which we share with you HERE. See if there's anything that interests you.
Exhibition: Molière en couleurs
Our Drama Librarian, Alan Jones, has arranged a fabulous exhibition of costume design paintings, with the support of Alliance Francaise de Glasgow and Bibliothèque de la Comédie-Française. Charles Bétout drawings are now collected all over the world, and will be yours to admire in the Cafe/Bar from 31st October to 20th November.
The exhibition was opened by Bailie Liz Cameron, who was introduced by Hugh Hodgart; representatives from the Alliance Francaise de Glasgow also attended. Our many guests unanimously agreed that the works are exquisitely drawn.
Costume and scenic design are two essential components of performance art. Operas, operettas, stage plays, ballets, and films all rely on design to create worlds that inspire the imagination.
From the library of the Comédie-Française (the oldest western theatre company in the world) to the Cafe/Bar of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland come the works of Charles Bétout.
Charles Bétout was a costume designer for the opera for various theatres in France, for fashion magazines and movies. He was the main costume designer of the Comédie-Française between 1919 to 1939.
As part of the Molière en couleurs (Molière in colour) exhibition, 22 of Bétout's watercolour costume designs for plays by Molière will be on display at the Conservatoire.
His drawings are particularly valuable for their intricacy and accuracy of the historical details. He has captured the very essence of Molière’s time in his work.
Have you ever wondered what a Georgian lady wore underneath all those petticoats? We've just found a blog full of interesting historical information, and this particular posting is about Georgian ladies' costumes.
The blog is called Historical Honey. (The author not only makes costumes, but also writes historical fiction.)
We do have books on historical costume design here in the Whittaker Library, of course. See what we've got ...
Do you Work in a Wardrobe?
Costume designers in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Wardrobe department at Speirs Locks, Glasgow, will be interested in this Japanese digital archive of costume design. The costumes are from all over the world, not just Japan.
KCI Digital Archive
