A Knights Tale - Manchester Opera House

A Knights Tale Musical used a lot of breakdown as part of the costume design. The breakdown primarily used metallic shades (antique golds, bronze, blackened bronze & pewter shades) with some pieces more specifically worn into with general breakdown colours (matte pewter, ecru etc) All the cast boots & some principle costume pieces had hand painted detailing.

Chaucer's Boots

I was given the direction of an ink splat in gold, a large C in the show font and other lettering and then freedom to add other details that fit. The scattered letters Surrounding the large C are the first letters of other Canterbury tales (Pardoner, Wife of Bath, Friar, Nun, Summoner etc). I researched iconography relating to Canterbury and found the Canterbury Cross which i added to the left boot for a different quality of detail to the splatter.

Jocelyn's leather jacket

Jocelyn's jacket needed highlights and detailed painting to the shoulders & sleeves. These are clean and crisp with minimal wear or texture added to the fabric because the character is a noblewoman.

Blacksmith/Armourer Aprons & Armour

Leather pieces were broken down to add definition & dimension as well as to look worn down with oil & heat over time without impacting the fabric's structure. William's armour arrived with a bright gold painted on black leather so a mixture of golds & black shading added to give definition or dimension.

Count Ademar's Boots

Ademar is the villain of the story, which is immediately apparent from his camp costume. I had seen the full costume already (not broken down to convey his wealth) so made these boots to match the rest of his visuals. Direction: Silver & Red, house animal is a wolf & images of weaponry

William's Boots

William's (the show's lead) boots Direction: gold/yellow & green on a brown boot. House animal is a phoenix (following design from his crest), using flames & other Medieval emblems

Ensemble Boots

Direction: range of warm metallic tones to breakdown the black boots. Imagery & iconography relating to Medieval tournaments (weapons, crosses & ornaments, flags, harlequin& checkerboard prints) and imagery with a Medieval graffiti/vandalism feeling (crosses and stripes)

Tunics

Traditional breakdown was used on various tunics & Pardoner's cloak to break up sections of solid colour (especially bright tones) and make pieces look worn - especially for those pieces meant to have been worn in multiple jousting tournaments.

Costume designer: Gabriella Slade, Costume supervisor: Lydia Hardiman, Costume breakdown artists: Max Stevenson & Dais Blower