Looking forward to this season…
It’s almost Fall again, and that means the start of our local theater season. I’m jumping right in with two plays almost simultaneously. I don’t mind it, they’re very different productions and will challenge me in different ways. But two is definitely my happy limit. Any more, and I wouldn’t be able to give each show the full attention it deserves.
The first, with Flashback Theater of Somerset, is Getting and Spending. It’s a play that asks whether there are lines that can never be crossed, or if life is more of a grey-scale mix of what we can, or should, do. Set in the late 1990s, part of the story unfolds in a small Kentucky monastery, while the other half plays out in the bustle of a New York courtroom. It’s an intimate play, few props, the story carrying itself. Costume-wise, I’m looking at heavy woven suits, Trappist monk habits, crisp button-up blouses, and knee-length skirts. I finished the costume plot early (a necessity when working on two plays at once) and had my first director’s meeting, where I learned there won’t need to be any costume changes during the show. Sometimes people assume plays like this require less from costuming, or that costumes don’t matter as much. But that isn’t true. As I’ve said, it’s simply a different skill set. Fitting and altering existing pieces, finding new or used items within budget, and making something fresh from something old, all of that takes just as much, if not more, creativity and brain power to make the cast look right for the world they inhabit.
The second play, with Somerset Community College, is Dracula: Comedy of Terrors, about as far from Getting and Spending as you can get. This one has a big cast, fast-paced quick changes, edgy comedy, larger-than-life themes, a sprawling set, and props galore. Confident, bold, and unapologetic, it promises to be a wild ride. I’m meeting with the director tonight before the first table read, which is also when I usually meet the actors for the first time and take measurements. I’ve already completed the costume plot and sketched out some ideas, but I’m always hesitant to get too attached to a vision too early. Not everyone has the same body type, and designs almost always shift once I see how a costume interacts with a real person. That’s not a drawback it’s simply part of the process. In theater, costumes have to do more than look good: they have to fit the character, move with the actor, and allow the performer to feel comfortable enough to bring their role to life. It’s about teamwork. Where much of the fashion world treats functionality like a limitation, theater embraces it as part of the craft.
Enjoy one of my rough sketches!
