Vendice costume by Christopher Morley for 'The Revenger's Tragedy', 1966

The production of Cyril Tourneur's play 'The Revenger’s Tragedy' in 1966, for which this costume was made, ensured Trevor Nunn’s job at the Royal Shakespeare Company after a disastrous start to his directing career. The success of Nunn’s production of the hardly-known play plus the brilliance of Christopher Morley’s designs brought to life a Jacobean revenge tragedy which had rarely been staged professionally since 1607. In the leading role, Ian Richardson as the eponymous revenger, Vendice, gave an extraordinary performance, darting between his family and, in this costume, the glittering court, like some exotic, deadly insect.

Told that they had to use the existing black set designed for Hamlet, Morley and Nunn conjured up the degeneration and corruption of an Italianate Court in terms of black and silver, and in the black set, the costumes glittered and gleamed, conveying a sense of decay and livid evil. The effects were achieved by experimenting with the new plastics and adhesives devised in the 1960s and are a tribute to the creative imaginations of both designer and makers. Peter Roberts, reviewing the production in 'Plays and Players' (December 1966) paid tribute to ‘the happy combination of the ingenuity of the designer, Christopher Morley, and of the skill of the company’s workshops in conjuring up the pomp of yesteryear with the plastics and aluminium foil of here and now.’

Museum no. S.2083/B-1986