A Look into the World of Costumes

Today at the American Shakespeare Center, I had the opportunity to sit down with Jenny McNee, one of the resident costume designers, to discuss the realm of her expertise. Well, I sat, and Jenny worked. While she sewed, Jenny gave me some great insight into how costume design has evolved at ASC. According to Jenny, the process changes from season to season. Costuming generally begins with a discussion with the director, to determine the time period, if there is one, and the world of the play. In the past, Jenny would have begun by sketching different ideas for costumes. Now, however, Jenny begins the process by thinking about necessity: what is needed for the show and how much time there is to put it together. The designers pull many costumes from stock; that is to say, they take them from costumes that ASC already has from previous shows. Often, costumes from different past shows will work together for the present show, in a way that might not have been expected (for instance, they may have similar colors or textures).

When creating the various costumes needed for a show, Jenny considers several important factors. Time plays a major role in this part of the process, because Jenny and the other designers sometimes have only a week to compile all of the costumes for a show. For this reason, costumes are recycled over many seasons, though the designers do sometimes make entirely new costumes – for example, all of the coats being used in the current production of Othello are hand-made, an amazing feat to accomplish in such a short time span. Costumers in my school’s Theatre Department generally have between two and three weeks to realize their designs, so to me one week seems unrealistic, but Jenny and fellow designers make great costumes nevertheless. Other factors that might affect the costume choices include: whether an actor needs to change costumes quickly backstage; whether a costume is an “overdress” or an “underdress”; whether a certain type of fabric needs to be used; whether a costume needs a zipper, boning, or lacing; and whether the costume needs seams in a particular place. Truly, the costume designers have a lot to keep in mind.

Another concern for the costume designers is the period of the show. Not all shows at ASC are staged in the early modern period, so the costume designers must discuss with the director the desired period for a show, and then go on from there. With specific periods, the designers can research the typical dress of that time and use that research to shape their ideas. The easiest period to work with is of course the Elizabethan, because Jenny and the other designers have so many resources to pull from. In some cases, though, the director does not have a set period in mind, and in these instances sketching is the most useful tool. Jenny refers to these shows as “mash-ups,” where textile and color connect the costumes, and they evoke a mood or a place, rather than a certain period of time.

The final stages of the process consist first of going through the pulled costumes with the director to decide which work, and which do not. At times, the designers almost turn to “mind-reading,” as Jenny puts it, to discover exactly what the direct wants, so that they can then fix or create anything the director finds to be missing from the costumes. The designers take an inventory of what each actor needs for his or her character, so that they’re sure to have all the necessary items. At this time, the designers take note of what items need to be bought in order to complete their inventory. In the last week of rehearsals, the designers can see the costumes on the actors, and can decide what works and what needs to be added or changed. The costume designers, according to Jenny, continue to design the little pieces, primarily accessories, up to a show’s preview, and often add items based on what they see at the dress rehearsal. The process feels long and arduous, even if it only lasts just over a week, but based on what appears onstage, it’s one that is extremely worthwhile. I admire Jenny and the other designers for their hard work, which, as I saw this morning, is no exaggeration. My own experience with costuming is limited, but I know enough to understand that creating costumes for an ensemble of actors in one week is a great accomplishment. With this in mind, Jenny and the other designers’ work is even more impressive to me.

Elizabeth Reams

The More You Read...

It is hard to believe that my second week interning here at the American Shakespeare Center is almost over. The time seems to just be flying by. Last weekend I was able to go to the Blackfriars theatre and see both The Taming of the Shrew and Othello. Both of the shows were wonderful. It is one thing to learn about Shakespeare's original practices in a classroom but you don't really understand them until you are given the chance to experience them first hand. Shakespeare was also meant to be seen and heard. I can read Othello a million times but it wont make me cry like I did seeing it performed. I am very excited to take the things I'm experiencing to my theatre back home.

My week in the office has been spent doing study guide research for As You Like It and bibliographies. I have been gathering and compiling sources for both the tour of the Blackfriars and some of the program information. At first I though the job would be just like being back in school but the source materials I have been exposed to have opened the world of Shakespeare to me even further. In my final semester of school I will have to write a thesis on Shakespeare and I was struggling with topic ideas. I now have a ton of ideas for my topic. It's going to be hard to pick just one.

I am also excited for the opportunity to read a number of dramaturgy thesis projects. Having designed my own dramaturgy major I know these text will be invaluable in helping me better understand of what dramaturgy is and what my personal style and approach to it should be.
Elena Henriksen

New Experiences

Hello there! My name is Elena Henriksen and I am the newest education intern here at the American Shakespeare Center. I am from and attend college in Iowa. Currenly I am one year away from graduating with a double major in Psycholgoy and Dramaturgy and a double minor in Shakespearian Studies and Humanities.

My first week here at the ASC is quickly coming to an end. Most of the week has been spent on a number of small projects in the office. There were however two highlights this week. I was first given the opportunity to watch co-founder Ralph Cohen teach a lesson on iambic pentameter at YCTC. His enthusiasm for shakespeare was contagious and something you rarely encounter. As i watched the group of teens absorbing his every word, I found myself remembering the first time my college professors had done that for me. It is a wonderful thing that the ASC is providing this opportunity for younger ages. I would have loved the opportunity to see Shakespeare this way before college.

The second highligh of the week was attending the first run of Macbeth. In this first run the actors come together to perform the show with very little rehearsal before hand. I was blown away . The actors were memorized and able to communicate and negotiate with one another not by words but by simply acting together on stage. Seeing a show like this really makes it clear that all the rehearsal time given to shows now is not necessary. I am now extremely excited to see the fianl product and get my next week at the ASC underway.

Elena Henriksen

Bringing Shakespeare to a New Audience

This week, in my quest to learn all that there is to know about the American Shakespeare Center, I assisted Sarah Enloe, Director of Education at ASC, in a workshop at Clymore Elementary School, teaching basic stage combat to a group of around forty children up to ten years old. The point of this workshop was to educate and excite the children about Shakespeare, showing them that there’s more to his plays than just his recognized verse: there’s action, intrigue, and even death! Though perhaps the kids were mostly excited about the presence of a broadsword, even if they were only allowed to hold it briefly under Sarah’s careful supervision; stage swords aren’t sharp, but they can still hurt.

However, the structure of the workshop ensured that the students got a chance to both practice their newly acquired combat skills, using imaginary swords, and learn a bit about Shakespeare, through the scene in Macbeth when Macbeth fights and kills Young Siward. With Sarah’s guidance, the children explored how the text of the play can give information about the characters, even foretelling what will happen to them later in the story. In the example from Macbeth, Sarah explained how he reveals in the passage that he cannot be killed by just any man, saying, “What’s he/That was not born of a woman? Such a one/Am I to fear, or none” (Act 5.7). His statement foreshadows his own death, since he is killed in the end of the play by Macduff, who was technically not born of a woman because he was born by C-section. With all of this information in mind, the children were able to act out Macbeth and Siward’s fight, combining their new combative techniques with the story of the scene.

As with my experience last week, this week’s adventure provided me with a wonderful opportunity to see younger peoples become enlivened by Shakespeare. Sword or not, the children delighted in their chance to practice an important aspect of the Shakespearean stage, hopefully going forth with the desire to delve even further into the world of Shakespeare. I like to think that a passion was kindled in those young minds, and that in the years to come they will find even more to enjoy in Shakespeare’s work than they did in that hour of swordplay. If there is one thing that I learned from my time with the children, it’s that Shakespeare can hold just as much interest for an eight-year-old as for an eighty-year-old, further proof that his plays can reach out to any age.

Elizabeth Reams

Introduction and Interest in Shakespeare Among Young Actors

This blog is meant to chronicle the experiences of the American Shakespeare Center's Department of Education interns. As an intern for ASC's Department of Education, it will be my task to explore the different facets of ASC, and to learn how everything here comes together. My name is Elizabeth Reams, and over the next several weeks I will be doing just that, starting with the events of my very first day at ASC.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of observing rehearsals for both ASC’s production of John O’Keefe’s Wild Oats and the Young Company Theatre Camp’s production of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. Although the two acting companies differed in their level of experience, it struck me that there was no difference in the level of engagement in the text. YCTC actors performed with as much enthusiasm as ASC’s resident company, and if any of the students were not quite as comfortable with the text as the more experienced actors, I never noticed. Both the professional and the student actors brought to their performances a high level of energy, drawing me as an audience member into their world and making me as excited about the play as they were.

I was particularly pleased to see the YCTC actors so involved in Shakespearean performance. To see such young actors be so eager about performing Shakespeare proved to me that Shakespeare’s plays are both accessible and enjoyable for audiences and actors of many different age groups. It is a testament to the enduring quality of his plays that there are groups of young actors still keen to perform them. From what I observed of the YCTC actors’ performances, I am sure that with further study they will grasp the text with as much ease as their professional counterparts. Their level of passion, however, is hardly wanting, and it was a treat to see them perform.

Elizabeth Reams