A Midsummer Night's Dream features the designs of two student designers and faculty mentor
威廉·莎士比亚的 《仲夏夜之梦 opens on April 13 in the Robinson Theatre and the play features the work of three costume designers.
The theatre department's costuming program had two students this season who were interested in the opportunity to design for a major play. 然而, with all of the projects and responsibilities that come with being a senior theatre major, neither was able to take on the task of designing for such a large show on their own. The design process has also been shorter than most for the show so a division of labor seemed imperative. 幸运的是, 《仲夏夜之梦 breaks naturally into four character groups that exist in different but related worlds. Associate Professor of Theatre and Costume Shop Manager Jill Van Brussel was able to assign a character group to each student designer based on their aesthetics and design strengths as well as taking on two of the character groups herself.
Rachel Foote is designing the costumes for the Rustics (also called the Mechanicals). Foote enjoys working with texture and character details so the Rustics, 谁是喜剧专门化的, 最符合她的兴趣吗.
“I’ve been focusing on matte finishes and a found-materials look," explained Foote. “我也, 为了达到喜剧效果, 增加了故意的时代错误，比如拉链, 炊具和一个巧妙放置的羽毛围巾."
L Knight is designing all of the costumes for the fairy realm.
“My designs tend to be fantastical and explosive so I was jumping at the chance to design the fairy world,奈特说.
Van Brussel is designing the Royals and Lovers costumes as well as overseeing the process of making sure the individual designs work together. 为此目的, the three designers established a shared color palette and determined that all would incorporate elements of Classical Greek historical dress. With that as a central point, they were each able to explore different approaches to those ideas. The process involves a lot of collaborative feedback.
“导演, 本Reigel, provided us with fabulous phrase for the world he wanted to create: ‘idealized Greek pastoral meets Mel Brooks’ ancestors at a surrealist moonlight party.’ I really couldn’t improve on that,范·布鲁塞尔说. “He also shared gorgeous images from artist Maxfield Parrish that spoke volumes 关于 the romanticism and luminosity he wanted for this world. 他们一直是我们的指导形象.”
Van Brussel’s design process starts with research — first of the script, 的字符, choice of historical setting and the artistic references provided by the director. She then creates mood boards before proceeding to rough sketches, 最终效果图，然后构建的部分. Foote spends the majority of her design time in the sketch phase by continually editing down her ideas through trial and error. For her, this is the most enjoyable part of the process.
“My design process starts with a Pinterest rabbit hole," said Knight. "First looking for things that simply catch my eye, 然后搜索主任提到的东西, and finally what’s in between what I like and what the director would like. All the images get put into a presentation to show the production team.”
Costumes in a play production are instrumental in reinforcing tone and time period and for this show in particular, they are the most concrete visual element the design team has to convey their message.
“They also provide context to the heightened language of Shakespeare, giving indications of character that might otherwise be lost,富特说。.
Knight was able to try out new techniques for constructing costumes during this process which was exciting. 然而, the truncated timeline was definitely a challenge as “I had to think ten steps ahead for our sewers.”
“布料在飞!范·布鲁塞尔说.
For Foote, who is working on this show just on the heels of designing costumes for 柯林斯弗洛伊德, the challenge was in the complete 180 degree turn in visual style.
“I had become comfortable in a world of layers and textures and a neutral color palette and then had to make a hard shift into simplicity and bright colors,富特说。. “Neither is more difficult than the other but the mental gymnastics of switching quickly was a hurdle.”
“I am always surprised and delighted to see what our students come up with. They see and dream things that I never would,范·布鲁塞尔说. 至于快速设计过程? “在精巧的压力下，魔法出现了!”
The costumes created by Van Brussel and her talented team of students will be one of many elements of the show that immerse audiences in the world of Shakespeare. 但对于那些好奇的人来说，这是什么 《仲夏夜之梦 关于?
“Love is confounding and often makes us ridiculous,范·布鲁塞尔说. “但最终这一切都是值得的.”
《仲夏夜之梦 will be presented in the Moss Performing 艺术 Center Robinson Theatre April 13-22. 可以买到票 在线.