ABSTRACT

“The simplest, and most theatrical, way of thinking about how many characters there are in any one play is to ask how many costumes the play requires,” declare the authors of an important book on early modern English clothing and costume (Jones and Stallybrass 2000: 197). This statement is at first straightforward and concrete – if you’re making a play, count the costumes required and you know how to proceed. However, this “simple” statement betrays complex issues about the role costume plays in the alchemy of turning actors into characters, the stage into a story.