Episode 32: Costuming Shakespeare with Patricia Lennox

If we took a photograph of every single King Lear ever staged, they would likely all be wearing a different costume. When it comes to Shakespeare’s stage directions, he’s of very little help to production companies because rarely, if at all, are the costumes of a particular play detailed out anywhere by Shakespeare himself. Of course his characters wore costumes, and used props, but exactly what were they?

Here this week to help us understand the role of costumes for William Shakespeare is our guest, Patricia Lennox.

Patricia Lennox teaches at the Gallatin School of New York University and has been a Global Lecturer at New York University sites in London and Florence, Italy. She edited As You Like It for New Kittredge Shakespeare Series. Her articles are included in multiple books about William Shakespeare, including the one she co-edited, which we’ve invited her to talk with us about today titled “Shakespeare and Costume”, which came out in 2015. Patricia’s article in that collection focuses on the character of Juliet’s Nurse and how costume helped that character develop her iconic personality. Today, Patricia will be taking us behind the curtain to look into the wardrobe department for William Shakespeare’s theaters and explore how the bard handled costuming in the 16th century.