Costume, craft and backstage secrets for Royal Exchange 50th

Cheers! The Royal Exchange has a huge costume collection, featuring items like this dress, worn in The Skryker by Maxine Peake in 2015.

Manchester's iconic Royal Exchange theatre has been awarded almost £186,000 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a special exhibition project to document its 50th anniversary this autumn.

Running from September 15-November 21, the theatre's extensive costume archive will feature in a free interactive exhibition - Mythic Reinvention: Five Decades of Costume and Craft, which will be staged throughout the unique Royal Exchange building.

The exhibition will offer audiences fresh perspectives on both the architecture of the theatre (which famously hangs from original pillars within the huge former trading floor of the former cotton exchange), and the work created and performed by artists on and off stage. The exhibition will also highlight the lifecycle of costume, from initial design to reuse.

At the heart of the project are 50 participants, including members from the theatre’s Young Company and Elders Company, who will play a central role in co-creating the exhibition and a new performance, inspired by the archive.

Artistic director and co-CEO Selina Cartmell said “For 50 years, storytelling has been the heart of this theatre, and our costume archive holds those stories. Thanks to this generous grant we are able to bring that hidden history into public view and celebrate the extraordinary designers and makers who have shaped our work, while inviting new generations of artists and communities to reimagine it with us."

The exhibition will be curated by Leslie Travers, an award-winning international set and costume designer whose work spans opera, dance, musical theatre and drama around the world.

Leslie said: “The Royal Exchange is unlike any other theatre. The proximity between audience and stage is both thrilling and deeply demanding and this epic and intimate experience means costume design is integral to storytelling."

Alongside the exhibition and performance there will be a supporting programme of talks, backstage tours and workshops, offering behind-the-scenes insights into costume-making and sustainable design.

Helen Featherstone of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: "The stories behind the decades-strong collection of costumes will be showcased and brought to life. This is a fantastic way to mark this wonderful theatre's special birthday."

More info here