Arts University Plymouth Costume Production students create living tableau for ‘Page of Plymouth’, Ben Jonson and Thomas Dekker’s lost Plymouth play

<p dir="ltr">Second-year <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-costume-production">BA (Hons) Costume Production</a> students from Arts University Plymouth are creating a set of specially commissioned costumes for a <strong>live tableau presentation at The Box, Plymouth, on Saturday 7 March 2026</strong>, bringing to life the story behind <em>Page of Plymouth</em>, a <strong>lost 1599 play</strong> linked to <strong>Ben Jonson and Thomas Dekker</strong>. <a href="https://literatureworks.org.uk/projects/page-of-plymouth/"><em>Page of Plymouth</em></a>, the project, is led by Literature Works, the writer development charity for south west England.</p> <p dir="ltr">Audiences are invited to step back into 16th century Plymouth as the short performance takes over The Box’s North Hall from 11am as part of <a href="https://www.theboxplymouth.com/events/super-saturdays/super-saturday-page-of-plymouth-costume-performance">Super Saturday: International Women’s Day</a>. Writers from <strong>Women Speak Volumes</strong> will bring the costumes to life with readings written especially for the presentation, commemorating Eulalia’s story.</p> <p dir="ltr">Led by <strong>Marie Dunaway</strong>, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Costume Production at Arts University Plymouth, students are researching Elizabethan material culture and constructing a sequence of looks inspired by <strong>Eulalia Glanvill (also known as Eulalia Page)</strong>, whose case became widely circulated in printed pamphlets and ballads after the murder of Master Page in Plymouth in <strong>February 1591</strong>, and later reached the London stage during the height of Elizabethan theatre.</p> <p dir="ltr">The students’ work will be presented as a <strong>“living tableau”</strong>, using costume as the primary storytelling device to trace Eulalia’s life and legacy through key stages.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Working outside formally assessed coursework and alongside their studies, the student team is designing and making multiple costumes that follow Eulalia’s story through distinct phases: before marriage, during marriage, and on the eve of her execution, culminating in a final conceptual look that uses movement to symbolise a form of “rebirth” or reimagining.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Marie Dunaway, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Costume Production at Arts University Plymouth, said: </strong>“Costume makes the past tangible, bringing history to life through fabric, form and detail. This project has asked our students to take a real Plymouth story shaped by gender, power and justice, and translate careful research into garments that speak to audiences now. I’m immensely proud of the commitment they’ve shown in choosing to volunteer their time and skills, and excited for people to encounter the work as a living tableau at The Box.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Jennifer Popiolek, a second-year BA (Hons) Costume Production student from Kingsbridge, said:</strong> “I volunteered straight away because Eulalia’s story is so compelling, and we so rarely hear about women from this period beyond royalty. Working on ‘Young Eulalia’, I’ve focused on the fully boned, corseted bodice, an Elizabethan coif and embroidered details that hint at the early stages of her story.”<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Arts University Plymouth BA (Hons) Costume Production student makers involved in the commission include <strong>Nina Feio de Vale Peixoto, Summer Bridger, Victoria Pate, Carrie Sykes, Jennifer Popiolek, Elyne Gevaert, </strong>and<strong> Marina Wagner.</strong></p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Carrie Sykes, a second-year BA (Hons) Costume Production student from Bridgewater, said: </strong>“I mainly worked on a coat and on the breakdown elements, including weathering the nightdress. I’m most proud of the hand-sewn seams inside the coat, it’s one of those details you might only notice up close. I’ve learned how to manage tasks as part of a costume team working to a live deadline.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Elyne Gevaert, a second-year BA (Hons) Costume Production student from Belgium, said:</strong> “I thought it was a great opportunity to learn more about working as part of a team and creating costumes for this type of performance. The pleats on the petticoat were probably the detail I’m most proud of. They will sadly be almost invisible in the final costume, but they took quite a lot of time and effort, and I think it was worth it. I learned how to read a historical pattern from a book, and I also discovered new techniques and tricks used specifically in costume construction.”<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Although the script no longer survives, <em>Page of Plymouth</em> is part of the theatre record of late-Elizabethan London, linked to Ben Jonson and Thomas Dekker and performed at <strong>The Rose Playhouse</strong> in <strong>1599</strong>. The story it dramatises travelled far beyond the South West: contemporary printed accounts and ballads portray how Eulalia was forced into a marriage she did not want, maintained a relationship with <strong>George Strangwidge</strong>, and became implicated in the murder of Master Page in his bed, before the case moved through the courts and into popular print culture.</p> <p dir="ltr">The wider <em>Page of Plymouth</em> programme is supported by a <strong>£65,817 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund</strong> and devised by <strong>Literature Works</strong> and producer-dramaturg <strong>David Prescott</strong>, delivered in partnership with <strong>The Box</strong>, <strong>Barbican Theatre</strong>, <strong>Arts University Plymouth</strong>, <strong>Kiss and Bite</strong> and <strong>The Rose Playhouse</strong>.</p> <p dir="ltr">As part of the wider Page of Plymouth programme, <strong>Arts University Plymouth’s Library has partnered with Literature Works</strong> to host an afternoon of events with Professor Claire Wilcox on Thursday 12 March 2026 at Arts University Plymouth: <a href="https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/literature-works/t-mjjolln">Her Story: fashion and historicism in the work of Vivienne Westwood</a> (1pm), followed by <a href="https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/literature-works/t-gllavmn">The wardrobe of memory: telling life stories through clothes</a> (3pm). The events explore how clothing can carry history and memory, echoing a rare surviving trace of the lost play in theatre records: payments for costumes noted by Philip Henslowe.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr"><strong>Arts University Plymouth Costume Production living tableau presentation</strong></p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Date:</strong> Saturday 7 March 2026</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Time:</strong> 11am</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Venue:</strong> The Box, Plymouth (North Hall)</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Part of:</strong> Super Saturday: International Women’s Day </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Format:</strong> Costume presentation / living tableau featuring specially commissioned costumes designed and made by BA (Hons) Costume Production students from Arts University Plymouth</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Also featuring:</strong> Readings written for the presentation by writers from Women Speak Volumes</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Access:</strong> Free admission. No need to book.</p> <p dir="ltr">A final community showing bringing together outcomes from across the programme will take place at <strong>Barbican Theatre on Sunday 12 April 2026</strong>.<br /></p>