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Situated just behind the stage in Elizabethan theatres, the ‘tiring house’ was a structure in which actors changed their costumes (or ‘attire’) before making their entrances onstage. Costumiers, dressers, and prop masters worked together with actors in the tiring house to bring the playwright’s vision to life and give audiences a night to remember. A tiring house might be said to symbolize a space that enables costume elements to come together to create a final, exquisite production. The Tiring House was founded with the intent of creating just such a space for today’s costume industry.
Their mutual passion for theatre, decades of costume experience and shared desire to improve the industry brought them together and fostered the creation of the Tiring House.
Founders Abigail Caywood and J. Childe Pendergast met at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London while completing their MFAs in Scenography. Their mutual passion for theatre, decades of costume experience and shared desire to improve the industry brought them together and fostered the creation of the Tiring House. They recognised two gaps in the UK costume industry: the need for a consolidated resource for clients looking to hire costume artisans, and the need for better representation for those artisans. The Tiring House is their solution to this two-fold problem, and with it, they aim to change the industry for the better.
The Tiring House is a proud recipient of
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama’s Start-Up and Enterprise Fund.
Our sincere thanks to Central for all of its help and support.
Childe is a Theatre Designer and Art Director.
She has over a decade of industry experience, having worked variously as a maker for regional theatres, a designer for London Fringe productions, an art director for short films, and a costume researcher for Hollywood blockbusters including ‘X-Men Days of Future Past’ and the Marvel universe. Childe has a soft spot for ballet and opera and has designed international productions for ‘Orpheo ed Euridice’, ‘Prima la Musica’, ‘Salome’ and many more. Childe has worked with the likes of Lindsay Posner, Lizzie Clachan, Lindsey Turner, and Stephanie Arditti.
Her theatre collaborations have been seen in New York, Boston and London. She holds a BA (Hons) degree in Design for Performance from the London College of Fashion and an MFA in Scenography from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
At The Tiring House, our aim is to change the costume industry for the better.
We are the first UK agency ever to represent costume artisans and provide a consolidated network between them and clients.
As a pioneering business, our mission is to establish costume industry standards and create a collaborative creative space for industry experts to meet and develop.
Representing Costume
Artisans & Craftspeople in
Theatre, Film & Television.
All information on The Tiring House is registered property. Made with love – IAMFOX STUDIOS