The Stage

Chit Chat - Costume drama

Published Tuesday 30 January 2007 at 13:15

Tabard was saddened to hear this week that thousands of pounds of theatre costumes have allegedly been pilfered from a Hampstead-based amateur theatre group.

Among the items which the group has reported missing is the Munchkin Mayor’s costume from a forthcoming production of The Wizard of Oz.

The Garden Suburb Theatre drama group is concerned that the clothing may appear on the ‘black market’ and has asked The Stage to put out a warning to other theatre companies who might be offered the swag, which went missing from a lock up garage in Finchley, to be careful before they buy potentially stolen goods.

As well as said clothing from Oz, the booty also features medieval threads from The Lion in Winter, Tudor-style clothing from The Prince and the Pauper and Victorian and Edwardian garb from Pygmalion and The Importance of Being Earnest. Some material dates back to the early days of the drama group in 1910 and all is made by professional costume designers. So, if anyone comes up to you in a dark alley and offers you a Munchkin costume, Tabard’s advice is to just say no. If you see someone in a dark alley dressed as a Munchkin, the likelihood is you’ve already said yes to something else and are beyond our redemption.