Jane Wenham costume designs
26th Aug 2015
James Button
Jane Wenham: The Witch of Walkern is set in a Hertfordshire village in 1712. Here are some of designer James Button‘s costume illustrations, with a few notes about the characters and costume decisions. Click on an image to expand it.
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- We imagined that most of Jane Wenham’s costume would have been made of cloth people gave her in thanks for her healing tinctures. We imagine that this would not have been an understated gesture so the quality of these fabric would (at one stage) have been very fine. However they still have a very practical function of warmth and protection so materials are wools and thick cottons, robust and very broken down from constant wear. The eclectic nature of these fabrics give the impression of Romany Gypsies in colour but the style is very much of the period. Jane does not conform to any fashions or restrictions in clothing such as corsets, not because she is making a feminist statement but because its just not on her radar – she is a free, natural woman and her clothing should suggest this.
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- Ann Thorn: We have tried to include little clues of Ann’s background within her costume. Her corset is broken down to almost in threads, this is referring to her past of selling ribbons on the street. We also imagine that the corset was once her mother’s that has been handed onto her, held close to her heart but tainting her with association (her mother was hanged as a witch). The skirt has the colour running out of the hem, trying to evoke a young girl playing in the fields and streams.
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- Samuel Crane is the zealous young priest with an unwavering belief in witches. The Pricker would examine and prick a suspected witch’s body – there aren’t many historical resources to draw on for this costume, compared with the others.
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- Kemi Martha was a slave in Virginia and is now Bishop Francis’ live-in, paid servant (and confidant, and more)
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- Francis Hutchinson is a Bishop who keeps a residence in Walkern because it is commutable from London and Parliament, but he has no official jurisdiction in the area. In our play Francis offers an alternative, kinder, more pragmatic church voice to that of the zealous young Samuel Crane.
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- Click the pic to see more of James Button’s beautiful costume illustrations
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- Fergal McGuire and Saul Paterson