Nicola Thomas

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Education

Equipment

My Equipment/Kit:

I can use: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Google Docs, Instagram, Sewing Machine, Hand Sewing, Steamer

About me

As a member of the Costume Department, I fully understand how important it is to facilitate and fully support the Director, Company and Creative Team during production weeks. I have experience of ensuring the Designer, Costume Supervisors, Actors and Stage Management feel facilitated and support during their run at the Queens Theatre. I often attend Costume Supervisor meetings, production meetings/staff meetings to make sure I am up to date with the information for each show or incoming productions. I have had to regularly read scripts and oversee the costume plots with Stage Management and communicate them to Wardrobe teams for Pantomimes and Community projects and liaise with the Production Manager to ensure wigs and make up needs are as efficient and facilitated within a show setting. A part of working in wardrobe at the Queens Theatre is to make sure all the Designers historical and contextual accuracy and continuity is being created in every performance of the entire run of the production.
I have had experience of large and small scale get-ins, inclusive rehearsals, performances, changeovers and get-outs of shows performed. I have dressed, supervised, constructed and managed on a mixture of these performances. As a Wardrobe Manager I have had to ensure the efficient and economical running of costume maintenance for each production within the Wardrobe Department. I have successfully dealt with high maintenance and principal actors on a regular basis while dressing and managing the department and dealt with very pressurized situations with discretion, tact and sensitivity. I have shadowed all the dressers when not having to personally have a plot, learning the intricate costume plots and quick changes. I have also had to time manage the construction of costumes and the sourcing/buying of costumes as well as fittings and alterations for the next show while managing the show currently in. I have learnt through working at Queens how to communicate with people of all ages and capabilities, with different health conditions and disabilities and assisted on several Connections and community led projects within the Queens Theatre.
The Queens Theatre embraced the live streaming of productions and recording of productions during the pandemic. This has been integral to being able to stream to audiences during a time with no access to live performances as well as a new audience who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to see productions or the work the Queens Theatre strives to make inclusive to everyone within the community. I have valued the opportunity to work on these streaming productions as with the community projects I value being able to assist people in getting opportunities they wouldn’t normally have in theatre.
In my positions throughout the last 14 years at Queens Theatre Hornchurch, as Head of Wardrobe/Assistant/Dresser, I have had to provide an efficient service to staff, ensuring all costumes made and issued are maintained and correctly fitted for each individual actor or employee, time managing sewing constructions and light repair, work to make sure repairs and maintenance on costumes are prioritized so they don’t build up. I have had to source new options and solutions for actors when costume elements aren’t working for them.
I also believe I am reliable and can be depended on especially in stressful and testing situations. I have good communication and problem-solving skills. I am very organized and always well-presented and have a tidy personality. I can easily adapt to working within a large or small team or individually whichever is suitable for the situation. I am extremely flexible and work hard to get the job done well within the timeframe and to a high standard.
I have an extensive knowledge, understanding and personal interest in costumes/garments, fabrics, dyeing and their maintenance requirements. I have above average sewing skills in both hand and machine sewing. I have maintained all equipment within a wardrobe department like sewing machines, overlockers, scissors and general textile supplies. I have experience in stocktaking of laundry products and good housekeeping procedures and budget balancing throughout the years within the department. I have had to monitor supplies of fabrics, costumes and products and stock take and reorder on a regular basis. I also have had to maintain storage areas and make sure all costumes are securely packed within the health and safety procedures and were correctly lifted and stored on a daily basis in our costume storage at Queens.
I have a good understanding of computers and have used most of the computer programs and software to a high level. I have had to type and edit notes for both wardrobe show notes and dressing plots in a short space of time and make them accessible and coherent to all other members of staff. I have set up spreadsheets/timesheets and documents for analysis by production departments.
In 2019 I was part of the Public Acts large-scale community show of As You Like It at Queens Theatre Hornchurch and in collaboration with the National Theatre. This involved approximately 200 diverse community performers from across London as well as a professional cast of six actors. This was the biggest show I have worked on and I helped manage, as Wardrobe Manager, I managed a large team of dressers/assistants and WHAM assistants as well as working with a Supervisor and Assistant Supervisor. In the lead up to it I worked with the Supervisor and Assistant Supervisor to pull stock costumes from the store and organise rails of costumes as well as making some of the professional actor’s costumes. I was then heavily involved in the fittings process and consequent alterations, which meant I was split across two different sites at this time one in Hornchurch, one in Hackney. It was also my job to find all the freelance and casual assistants and dressers involved and to run the team while the Supervisor was involved in technical rehearsals and during the shows. Some of the Community Company were vulnerable adults and some were children this meant that particular care and attention was needed on this show. I am particularly proud of this show as it was a huge undertaking and the resulting shows were an incredibly joyous explosion of theatre and you could see the effect it had on everyone involved, I loved being a part of this.

License & Passport

Skills

Job Titles	Costumer Maker, Wardrobe / Wardrobe Support
Years in industry	6+ years
Organisations / Memberships	BECTU (UK)