The Ballad of Maria Marten follows the life of Maria Marten, a woman born to poverty in Victorian England. Throughout the play, she exposed to money, love, violence, and abuse. The performance ends with her brutal murder and the hiding of her body.

This performance had several issues that made it difficult to costume. The first of these was the fact that all actors remained on stage for the entirety of the performance. On top of this, most of the actors played 2 or more characters. This meant that costumes had to be created that could be easily taken off or put on whilst not compromising the actors in any way.

Another issue with this performance was the timescale. With only three weeks until the opening night, costumes had to be put together fast. Luckily, Nottingham College allowed us to use costumes already in their wardrobe.

The majority of the costumes were sourced to enable us to stay within the time-frame. The decision to have everyone in a button down shirt, skirt, and apron was made as everyone at some point played Maria. It was then decided that accessories which were easy to take on and off would be used to identify other characters. For example when one actor played Tom, a waistcoat was worn.

The aprons worn were made by myself and a few others, and were dyed by myself and Yunshu. They were made to be reversible, with a clean side and a dirty side. The side was made dirty by coffee staining the fabric after they had been sewn together.

Although my usual costumes are historically accurate, and I would have liked to have done the same here, there simply wasn't enough time to craft these kinds of costumes. On top of this, skirt supports such as crinolines, proper bodices, and large skirts would have been impractical for quick on-stage changes. Overall, I am really proud of what we were able to achieve within the time-frame, and the Victorian aesthetic came across well in the costume pieces we were able to source.