Dressing Lady Macbeth: An Exhibition
Back by popular demand, this exhibition is a fantastic final opportunity to view Ellen Terry's Beetlewing Dress before it is put away for conservation rest.
26 February - 2 November | Wed - Sun, including bank holidays | 11am - 5pm
Focussing on the 1888 Lyceum Theatre production of Macbeth, 'Dressing Lady Macbeth' explores the legacy of this vibrant staging in this multimedia exhibition.
It brings together items from the production, spotlighting the famous Beetlewing dress, following its starring role in the international 'Sargent and Fashion' exhibition in 2024.
Last year, this marked the first time in five years that the dress has been displayed at Smallhythe. Now, it is the last chance to see the dress before it is put away for conservation 'rest'.
The dress sits alongside the Banqueting dress, which has recently returned to the property following extensive conservation work.
Props, jewels and other costume elements are displayed alongside the dresses, accompanying audio from the 2010 production of Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart, licensed from Illuminations Media.
The exhibition is free with standard admission. Booking is not required.
The Beetlewing dress returns
See the most famous of Ellen Terry's costumes on display at Smallhythe Place.
Lady Macbeth seems an economical housekeeper, and evidently patronises local industries for her husband’s clothes and the servants’ liveries: but she takes care to do her own shopping in Byzantium.
The collection
The legacy of the production has survived in the extraordinary theatre collections at Smallhythe Place.
On display next to the Banqueting dress is the elaborate crown worn in the banqueting scene, jewellery, props, ephemera and the daggers used on stage by Henry Irving as Macbeth.
Ellen Terry's heavily annotated scripts are also on show, which give such a fascinating an insight into her approach to the part, her characterful handwriting mapping her understanding of Lady Macbeth.
To find out more about the conservation work carried out on the Beetlewing dress, click here.
Conservation work
The Banqueting dress returned to Smallhythe Place in 2024 following extensive conservation at our textile studio at Blickling. The dress needed a great deal of intricate work, having been altered and embellished over the years to the detriment of the original design.
The dress was extremely fragile due to the damage caused by repeated use on stage, and the various alterations and repairs that have been made to it since. After hours of exacting conservation it is ready to meet its public again.
With long flowing sleeves, high waist and long voluminous skirt, the light and airy nature of the style created by the use of lightweight cotton muslin shot through with gold thread, creates a diaphanous, ethereal look. Designed by Alice Commyns Carr and made by Aida Nettleship, it remains one of Ellen Terry's most iconic costumes.
Our guide
The Macbeth museum guide allows visitors to delve further into the story of the exhibition, and of Shakespearean theatre at this time, by highlighting other items in the remarkable collection at Smallhythe Place.
