Guardians Of The Establishment

Handing a tarantula to The Duke of Cambridge or winching Macbeth into costume is all in a day’s work for people working at 10 of this country’s best-loved institutions. Emma Hughes meets them

- Emma Hughes

Alistair McArthur, head of costume at the Royal Shakespeare Company

‘So far, we’ve moved 3,000 pairs of shoes,’ says Alistair McArthur. ‘Then there’s the needles, the thread, all the equipment.’ He and his team are relocating from their ‘characterful’ quarters into temporary digs before their redeveloped workroom opens in 2020.

He’s been with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) since 2002; before arriving in Stratford-upon-Avon, he was a costume supervisor, who made sure ‘the 2D designs could become a 3D reality’ at venues such as the National Theatre and the Royal Opera House —the perfect preparation for his current role where, at the start of each year, as many as four shows may be in rehearsal at once.

He and the show’s designers survey the 30,000 items in the RSC’s store, then decide what needs to be made, bought or hired. Often, they only have a few weeks to pull everything together. ‘Sometimes you need to cast it first,’ he points out.

Problem-solving is at the heart of his department’s work, from making multiples of costumes that get a pasting (some will be worn more than 100 times in a single run) to factoring in live-screened performances (‘it’s had a huge impact on the way we approach wigs’). Quick changes pose their own set of challenges. ‘We never use zips in costumes that will be worn for one, as that’s when they get stuck.’ What does he use instead? ‘Magnets,’ Mr McArthur smiles. ‘Really strong ones.’ The RSC’s ‘Macbeth’ is at Stratford-upon Avon, until January 19, 2019 (01789 403493; www.rsc.org.uk)

Jan Beccaloni, curator of Arachnida and Myriapoda at the Natural History Museum