Fabrics to be used in costumes for Twelfth Night

Josie and I began the process of designing Twelfth Night with a clear sense that our world should be rooted in the Elizabethan period in which the play was written; a world of hierarchy, convention and order, yellow stockings and box trees. We visit Hardwick Hall, one of Britain's most complete and glorious Tudor houses, and spend time immersing ourselves in the domestic details of a large household and taking inspiration from both the unique architecture of the house and garden, as well as the hundreds of paintings, tapestries and pieces of furniture that all have a story to tell about wealth, power and structure in this society. We go to the Elizabethan rooms of the National Portrait Gallery in London and start to get a sense of the clothes they wore and see the most prominent and wealthy people of this time as they wished to be seen, in their finest clothes and surrounded by objects which give us clues as to their public values and individuality. Then we surround ourselves with pictures and paintings that feel like they have something to tell us about the play, from Caspar David Friedrich landscapes to photographs of the sea.

We then start to work in the model box, to develop an architectural sense of what our Illyria might look and feel like. The beginning of this process is really enjoyable as the possibilities in the model box are endless, unrestrained by the fast approaching realities of budget and time, and we draft and redraft shapes and ideas with the play always in front of us and informing our choices. We experiment with the shape of a heart, thinking about its two halves joining to create a whole and seeing this in the search for completion through love that is such a driving force in the play. Its curved sides become waves and we start to think about water; storms at sea and calm, still swimming pools. This is a long journey of discovery and refinement, and slowly we evolve a sense of our world. Its elements become deep blue water, rough honey-coloured wood, hot, bright sun and rain. We take a lot of inspiration from the ordered symmetry and search for perfection that we found in the gardens and architecture of the period, but there is also chaos and disorder in this world, and our landscape is also weather-beaten and playful.

Our Illyria is a sunburnt Elizabethan shipwreck. The fierce storm at sea that so cruelly separates the twins quickly gives way to a sunkissed pier, which tumbles into a calm and inviting pool. Jumping into the cool water is joyful and contagious fun, but isn't enjoyed by everyone. Our characters fight, love, play, desire and dream; all unknowingly inside the hollow shell of a wooden heart. Just as the two halves of the heart make a whole, the twins follow their weaving paths towards finding each other and becoming complete again. In a place where convention, order and symmetry are qualities that are held so highly, Viola teaches this world what love can be.

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