The Addams Family brought to life on stage by team of UON students

It was curtain call for the opening performance of The Addams Family at Corby Cube Theatre last night, where a team of University of Northampton’s students were waiting in the wings to deliver the show’s ghoulishly iconic looks.

A terrific total of ten Hair, Make-Up and Prosthetics for Stage and Screen students were tasked with channelling the ‘Addams Family Values’ to create the looks for a total of 23 actors on stage for the production, which is on stage until this Saturday (13 April).

The full team included:

·       Main Cast Makeup Designer & Show Lead, Ojas Kaur

·       Ensemble Makeup Designer & Supervisor, Amy Barnes

·       Hair & Makeup Artists: Tegan Burt-Davies, Millie Gilead, Chole Howard, Harmonie Mattless, Luiza Mădălina Plesca, Amy Schofield, Victoria Turcanu, and Elle Wood.

Third-year Hair, Makeup and Prosthetics for Stage and Screen student, Ojas Kaur, is working as the production’s Main Cast Makeup Designer & Show Lead. On her experience so far, Ojas said: “Working behind the scenes of The Addams Family is really fun, and has demonstrated to us all the importance of good teamwork.

“Our approach to creating the final looks reflected the true industry process – we created a number of digital face charts for the main cast members and ancestors, then ran a couple of trial runs before the show’s dress and technical rehearsals.

“Realistically speaking, it’s been challenging as we have approximately 23 actors in total to create the on-stage looks for – but it’s been an enjoyable challenge. This will be my final stage production provided through UON before graduation later this year, and it’s been a fun project to work collaboratively with my course mates on from across all study years of our course.”

(Photo Credit – Larry Wilkes and RMT)

This theatre production project is the latest in a long line of industry experiences offered to students on the course, and follows in the footsteps of several recent opportunities – which include The Royal and Derngate’s stage production of Kinky Boots, as well as working under the tutelage of one of Hollywood’s greatest make-up and prosthetic artists, Ve Neill.

Laura Cotterill, Senior Lecturer in Hair, Makeup and Prosthetics said: “Here at the University of Northampton, we pride ourselves on equipping our students with as much real-world experience as possible to equip them with the core skills and professional portfolio needed to ‘make it’ in the industry.

“It has been truly special to see students from all three years of our course working together to create the iconic looks of The Addams Family. A vital part of this industry requires our students to work robustly, reliably and as excellent team players. The skills learnt during this project will mean so much more than just a note on their CV – it takes them one step closer to graduating as resilient, professional artists.”

Rutland Musical Theatre’s production of ‘The Addams Family’ is on-stage from Wednesday 10 April – Saturday 13 April 2024 at Corby Cube Theatre. Tickets are still available and can be booked via their website.

Find out more about studying Hair, Make-Up and Prosthetics for Stage and Screen at the University of Northampton.