Northumberland Players Costume House

Thousands of Items & Costumes to Rent for Theatrical Productions, Events & Groups!

Costumes are available for rent from Northumberland Players Costume House to theatres and individuals. When you require costumes for a theatre production or a special event, the friendly, expert staff is available to assist. Rental rates for costume items are very reasonable – ranging from $5.00 to $80.00.

To arrange costume rentals, call 905-372-5856 and leave a message or email us at costumes@northumberlandplayers.ca. A volunteer will contact you to arrange a time for you to see the collection and select your costume or to arrange for rental of entire show’s costumes.

Northumberland Players Costume House, located at 450 Campbell Street, Unit 4, Cobourg, is open to the public Mondays 9 am to 1 pm (holidays excluded) or by appointment other times for your convenience.

Group Collections

Contact us if you are interested in viewing complete costume collections for casts of the following productions:

12 Angry Men Evita Oklahoma
42nd Street Hair Our Town
A Christmas Carol Grease Peter Pan
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Guys and Dolls Sweeney Todd
A Pirate’s Life Gypsy The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Anne of Green Gables Hairspray The Full Monty
Annie Into the Woods The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Anything Goes Jesus Christ Superstar The Secret Garden
Cabaret Joseph The Sound of Music
Calendar Girls Les Belles Soeurs The Wedding Singer
Camelot Man of La Mancha The Wizard of Oz
Dames at Sea Much Ado About Nothing Les Misérables

Northumberland Players Costume House: the “Jewel” of Northumberland Players

Since the late 1970s, a group of faithful and ever-increasing volunteers of Northumberland Players has worked diligently in the specialized costumes department of this live community theatre company. In 1984, a two-storey apartment above a downtown Cobourg store became the first centralized storage space for Northumberland Players’ costumes. Previously, the costumes had been tucked away in various locations including private homes. A “mountain of garments” was organized with great care by Verna Templer. Assisted by enthusiastic volunteers, the team sorted, maintained, repaired and received existing and incoming production costumes and donations. Verna remains very involved with the administration of the collection with volunteers who have experience in film, television, theatre, music and related performing arts.

The Players’ costume collection represents years of expert design, research and sewing, augmented by donations of vintage clothing. The Northumberland Players’ Costume House vintage collection represents most fashion styles for men and women over the past 120 years. The women’s vintage hats and dresses number in the hundreds. There are rare, authentic men’s ensembles. Children’s costumes are also available. As well as the historical pieces, there are costumes representative of many eras including medieval, Shakespearean, Edwardian — and for the entire cast of over 45 theatre productions (see Group Collections).

The centralized costume space soon became integral to the Northumberland Players’ success as a theatre group and a significant resource for costume rental to other groups and individuals. It gained a reputation as one of the best collections of amateur and professional rentals between Hamilton ON and Montreal QE. There have been rentals to the CBC, the Canadian Opera Company, various theatre and school groups across Ontario. Now, over 10,000 costumes have a home and are available to rent at a larger location at Northumberland Players Costume House, 450 Campbell Street, Unit 4, in Cobourg. We are located one hour east of Toronto, five minutes south of Highway 401 with ample free parking. Whether you require costumes for an entire theatre production or a special event, the friendly, expert staff is available to assist.

To read more about the success of the Costume House, see http://ontarioeast.ca/success-stories/northumberland-players