Costume Design
1994 (painted, drawn)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Matthew Bourne's ballet Highland Fling takes as its starting point the 19th century classic La Sylphide, in which a sylph falls in love with a young man on the eve of his wedding. He leaves his fiancé to follow her, but in his desire to possess, he ultimately destroys her. Bourne translated the action from picturesque Scottish glens and mountains to a squalid Glasgow tenement, while the characters became contemporary recognisable, if exaggerated, youngsters, and the sylph a drug-crazed vampire. This costume was designed for one of the guests at the hero's stag night when he meets the crazed, doped up sylph in a lavatory. The excess of tartan in set and costumes induced an almost hallucinatory sensation.
The realism of the ballet demanded not ballet costumes, but contemporary clothes. Brotherston gave this creation an exaggeration which conveys the idea of Scottish lads' sharp dressing, teaming tartan Teddy-boy suit with the bright colours of shirt and brothel creeper shoes. It is Scottishness taken to the extreme - and beyond.
Brotherston has evolved a personal style of costume design presentation. Mostly he works around and within frames, sometimes adding graphics, and with schematic figures. This means that the focus is on the costume itself, and the viewer is not constantly distracted by the inessentials.
The realism of the ballet demanded not ballet costumes, but contemporary clothes. Brotherston gave this creation an exaggeration which conveys the idea of Scottish lads' sharp dressing, teaming tartan Teddy-boy suit with the bright colours of shirt and brothel creeper shoes. It is Scottishness taken to the extreme - and beyond.
Brotherston has evolved a personal style of costume design presentation. Mostly he works around and within frames, sometimes adding graphics, and with schematic figures. This means that the focus is on the costume itself, and the viewer is not constantly distracted by the inessentials.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil, pen & ink, and watercolour, on paper. |
| Brief description | Costume design by Lez Brotherston probably for Andrew George as Robbie in the dance work "Highland Fling", Adventures in Motion Pictures, Bristol Arnolfini, April 26th 1994. |
| Physical description | Costume design probably for Andrew George as Robbie. The design depicts a full length male figure wearing a 1950's style costume. The costume consists of a red, black and yellow tartan two-piece "Teddy Boy" suit, worn with a yellow and black tartan shirt, black tie, and green crepe soled shoes ("Brothel Creepers"). The figure also has a 1950's quiff hairstyle. Unsigned by the artist. On the reverse is a pencil drawing of a full length male figure. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Credit line | Given by the designer |
| Object history | This costume design by Lez Brotherston is part of an extensive collection of designs donated to the Theatre Museum by the artist in 2002. The design was executed for a production of Matthew Bourne's dance work "Highland Fling, a wee Romantic Ballet" performed by Adventures in Motion Pictures at the Bristol Arnolfini, April 26th 1994. The production, a witty re-working of the great Romantic ballet "La Sylphide" with music by Herman Lovenskjold, was later presented at the Lillian Baylis Theatre, London, May 10th 1994, and then toured the country extensively. The production was lit by Tina MacHugh, and the original cast included Maxine Fone as The Sylph, Scott Ambler as James, Etta Murfitt as Madge, Emily Piercey as Effie, and Simon Murphy as Gurn. |
| Production | Reason For Production: Commission |
| Associations | |
| Literary references |
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| Summary | Matthew Bourne's ballet Highland Fling takes as its starting point the 19th century classic La Sylphide, in which a sylph falls in love with a young man on the eve of his wedding. He leaves his fiancé to follow her, but in his desire to possess, he ultimately destroys her. Bourne translated the action from picturesque Scottish glens and mountains to a squalid Glasgow tenement, while the characters became contemporary recognisable, if exaggerated, youngsters, and the sylph a drug-crazed vampire. This costume was designed for one of the guests at the hero's stag night when he meets the crazed, doped up sylph in a lavatory. The excess of tartan in set and costumes induced an almost hallucinatory sensation. The realism of the ballet demanded not ballet costumes, but contemporary clothes. Brotherston gave this creation an exaggeration which conveys the idea of Scottish lads' sharp dressing, teaming tartan Teddy-boy suit with the bright colours of shirt and brothel creeper shoes. It is Scottishness taken to the extreme - and beyond. Brotherston has evolved a personal style of costume design presentation. Mostly he works around and within frames, sometimes adding graphics, and with schematic figures. This means that the focus is on the costume itself, and the viewer is not constantly distracted by the inessentials. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.326-2002 |
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| Record created | February 19, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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