Amateur theatre groups from Scotland made a beeline for Perth Theatre’s costume department for a unique opportunity to secure a piece of stage history.
The opportunity to browse through and buy thousands of costumes from all eras and productions instantly grabbed the attention of directors and actors.
As we reported, the theatre is putting thousands of its older costumes up for sale this week.
And one of the first items to go was the wedding dress worn by Cinderella in Perth Theatre’s 2013 pantomime.
Like many of the items it had not seen the light of day for some time, but with a new owner, the gown will make an immediate return to the stage.
“Our Christmas pantomime will be Beauty and the Beast and the dress will be the start of Belle’s wedding dress,” said Laura Edison from Largs Players.
Laura and her wife Lindsay were among the first through the door to secure much needed costumes for the group.
“We drove for two hours to be at the sale and it’s been fantastic,” Laura said.
“We need a lot of nice costumes and the number and quality on offer here is incredible.
“This is a pretty unique opportunity for us and great that everything is at an affordable price for amateur theatre companies.”
With one third of the theatre’s costumes up for sale, there were items to suit almost all requirements.
Perth Drama Club sent an eight-strong team to the sale to secure costumes for its up-coming productions.
George Hutchison, 67, was on the look-out for finery suitable for a panto dame for Mother Hubbard, which he has written and will direct.
He left with a costume once worn by dad’s Army favourite Ian Lavendar, who once graced the Perth Theatre stage as Widow Twankey in Aladdin.
Also up for sale, though not bought by George, was another outfit from Aladdin, showcasing panto’s traditional foray into the topical – a replica of the meat dress worn by Lady Gaga.
George said: “The sale has been brilliant for us. We’ve had a whole gang picking through the rails and it has proved to be a real treasure trove.”
One of the biggest buyers on the first day of the sale was Liam Black from the Cowdenbeath-based Liam Black Theatrical company.
He secured in the region of 100 costumes to be used in all manner of productions, from magic shows to variety shows and dramatic productions.
Liam was found clutching a measuring tape and explained that the actors of the past were a very different breed.
“Back in the Victorian days of theatre the average man had a 36 inch waist and was around 5 foot 5 inches in height and women were also much smaller, often with tiny waists.
“You need to be careful when looking at some of the older costumes as in some cases though they were made for adults you might struggle to fit someone much younger into them these days.”
The items on sale were selected from Perth Theatre’s vast wardrobe collection by head of costume Louise Robertson and her team.
They singled out a wealth of items they believed deserved further outings in the hands of local groups and individuals rather than staying in storage.
Clothing, accessories, hats and shoes from all eras and productions and even items from Perth’s famous pantomimes are all up for grabs, with the collection representing every decade of the last 120 years of theatre in Perth.
The sale runs at the Perth Theatre Scenic Stores on the Inveralmond Industrial Estate until Wednesday, between 1pm and 6pm each day.
