Having trained in Scenography at the University of Wales Aberystwyth and then specialising in Theatre Design completing a post graduate diploma at LAMDA, Fi Russell is a professional theatre designer with over 15 years experience. This July, she is the Costume Designer for Robin Hood: The Legend of the Black Knight, a terrific production by over 50 Torch Youth Theatre members.

Her recent theatre design highlights have included: Set and Costume for Le Navet Bete’s fast paced comedy ‘Oh Zeus’ and working with magicians the Great Baldini and Peter Clifford on the design for ‘The Curious Case of the Masked Magician’ both of which are currently touring the UK. Previous highlights include Exeter Northcott’s 5 star productions of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Commotion Time’, designing set and costume for ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ at Theatre by the Lake Keswick (5 stars) and designing Quirk’s production of ‘Dayzee and the World of Tomorrow’ which won the Exeter Sustainability Awards for using almost entirely recycled materials for the set, costumes and props.

Fi has had the privilege of sharing her knowledge and experience; being a lecturer in costume design for two years at Arts University Plymouth and designing the sets and mentoring students in scenic painting and stage management at Eton too.

Read all about Fi and her role here at the Torch this month ...

Explain what being a Costume Designer entails.

A Costume Designer’s job is to help tell the story, create the world and develop character through the outfits being worn on stage - this means you need to really understand the script. So, initially there is a lot of reading and conversations with the Director. Then you need to research the world of the play, if it’s a historic play (like this one) you need to look at what people were wearing when this play was set. You might do artistic mood boarding for more creative inspiration too. At the same time you need to do some admin to work out the budget, and how many costumes and changes each character has. This way you don’t design something outside the feasible parameters. Once you have done all this, you can start drawing. Once you have the designs and they’re approved by the Director, it’s time to start sourcing, adapting and making the items ready for the performance.

What inspires you when you start the design process?

The audience. I love thinking about how the audience will understand, react and respond to the costume. For example in this show I’ve used really strong colour definition between the character groups to make it as easy to follow as possible.

What’s your favourite outfit of the whole show and why?

My favourite outfit? That’s a hard one. I’ve really enjoyed working out Will Scarlet’s silly disguises with Tim (Show Director).

What’s been challenging?

There are 133 costumes in this show, so it has been a challenge to source that many outfits within budget and to also make them all really identifiable, character rooted and fun.

How long does the design process take?

We started months ago, but it’s not continuous work at first. Then as you get closer to the show, the more intense it becomes.

Who do you work alongside when designing costumes and how important is it to co-work and communicate with others?

I work closely with the Director coming up with the ideas and finding out about the staging and characters. On this show, I’ve been lucky to have worked with some great production assistant volunteers from the cast too. It’s great that the company is so keen and invested and hopefully I can teach them a little along the way.

How important is it to think of sustainability / environment when designing for the stage?

It’s really important and it’s really embedded in my work. We’re hiring and borrowing many of the costumes rather than buying new ones, and will make sure that no clothes go into landfill at the end of the show.

If someone wanted to become a Costume Designer, how should they go about it?

There are some great drama school courses at Central, Bristol Old Vic, Royal Welsh College and RADA, as well as some brilliant university courses such as Arts University Plymouth, Bournemouth and Wimbledon.

Robin Hood: The Legend of the Black Knight can be seen on the Torch Theatre stage on Monday 20 July, Tuesday 21 July and Wednesday 22 July at 6.30pm. Price: £10 / £8 concessions. Book tickets via the website torchtheatre.co.uk / Box Office: 01646 695267 or click here.