LONDON WARDROBE MISTRESS

Evening Star, Issue 22881, 12 February 1938, Page 25

LONDON WARDROBE MISTRESS

INTERESTING CAREER FOR DUNEDIN GIRL A former Dunedin girl, Miss Kathleen Forbes Primmer, has carved for herself an unusually interesting career, bein'* recently appointed costumier and warefrobo mistress for the Westminster Theatre, London. Miss Primmer, who is still in her early twenties, is the youngest holder of <such a position in any Loudon theatre. Her ivork involves the making, mending, and general care of all the costumes, and in addition she supervises the work of her staff of dressers. As a rule, a new play opens at the Westminster Theatre every three or four weeks, so Miss Primmer’s task is a monumental one. The play running at present is Eugene O’Neill’s ‘ Mourning Becomes Electra.’ It is a four-and-a-half-hour play, placing a great strain on both players and theatre staff, hut has been so warmly received that its season has been extended, and there is a possibility of its being transferred to the West End later on. Lack of Scope. The costuming of the play received special comment from the critics, a

tribute to Miss Primmer’s' making as well as to the designer’s skill. Later on, Miss Primmer hopes to graduate to the still more interesting work of designing theatrical costumes. Her interests are bound up with the theatre, and the lack of scope in this direction in New Zealand is likely to prevent her bringing her talents buck to the Dominion in the near future.

As well as good looks and a charming personality, Miss Primmer bx-ings a thorough training and extensive experience to her present position. Leaving .Dunedin about nine yeai’s ago, she studied for foxxr years in Paris at the Eoolo Nationale Sixperieure des Arts Deooratifs, her work there including most branches of commercial art. Hero she won a diploma with medals in applied perspective, and for the year’s best work in general poster and publicity lines. She was also the winner of a medal offered by the Royal Society of Arts in open competition in the British Empire for the best textile design, and at the same competition she won a special prize for the best set of textile designs in a group of 12. Those were exhibited at the Impex-ial Institute. Frequent Exhibitor. In 1933 Miss Primmer returned to London as a .student at the Royal Academy of Art, and during tbo next few yeai's she exhibited at the Royal Academy and at the Renaissance Galleries in Regent street. In her spare time she “ free-lanced ” with gratifying success in designs for materials, and later she joined a West End dressmaking establishment. More recently Miss Primmer has been doing general publicity wox-k for a firm in Dublin, theatrical costume designing for a charity matinee at the London Hippodrome, and genera! “ free-lance ” work.—Christchurch ‘ Press.’