DATE: 1 May 2019

One of York Theatre Royal pantomime dame Berwick Kaler’s spectacular costumes will be installed as the highlight of the re-display of York Castle Museum’s Shaping the Body exhibition.

The glitterball costume was worn by Berwick in the ‘walk-down’ finale of the 2018-19 pantomime The Grand Old Dame of York, his 40th and final production as York Theatre Royal’s world-famous dame.

Berwick, who is writing and co-directing the 2019-2020 pantomime Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal, will be on hand to oversee his very own costume drama.

The costume has been donated to the museum to mark Berwick’s four decades as York’s pantomime dame.

Dr M Faye Prior, Assistant Curator of Costume and Textiles at York Castle Museum said: “It’s very special to us to be able to collect such an important piece of York’s theatrical history. Not only is the costume spectacular to look at, but it celebrates a career that has touched the lives of generations of people in York and beyond.

“It helps grow and develop our collection of theatrical costume, as well as being the most exciting 21st century outfit we’ve collected so far.”

The glitterball costume will become a highlight of the re-display of the Shaping the Body exhibition, which looks at fashion and changing body shape through the ages.

It will join a Vivienne Westwood outfit donated to the museum from Vivienne Westwood Ltd following the success of A Personal Collection of Vivienne Westwood Shoes. This comprises of a jacket, top, skirt and shoes from the collection Tied to the Mast, from spring/summer 1998, and is a Vivienne Westwood Gold Label ensemble.

The new display will also showcase an East Yorkshire Militia uniform coat of 1762, a 1880s bustle gown fancy dress outfit, and a pair of theatrical shoes that belonged to Edith Craig, a theatre director, producer, costume designer and early pioneer of the women’s suffrage movement in England.