From: Joseph "Chepe" Lockett Subject: Summary of Costume Discussion, + Prop Notes To: susand@rice.edu Date: Wed, 29 Jan 1997 11:39:22 -0600 (CST) Cc: gwent@rice.edu Hi, Susan. I enjoyed meeting and talking to you at brunch the other day, and am sorry I've been slow in getting back to you (running rehearsals tends to do that! :-). Here's a summary of our discussion, though much more extended in length! (Gwen, I'm cc'ing this to you because of certain prop comments below!). Two different "styles" of courtly costume, both built on the same base layer of band-collar tux shirts and black dress pants, shoes, & socks. Sicilians (Leontes, Camillo, Antigonus, Cleomenes, Dion, Mamillius) have a burgundy cloak, clasped to gold buttons we've sewn on their shoulders, of sufficient fabric weight to allow some nice draping and not too much fluffiness in the wind. A couple necklaces for Camillo and Antigonus, who are among the chief courtiers, would be nice. (Props?) Bohemians (Polixenes, Florizel (before changing clothes with Autolycus and then again after reaching Sicilia), Archidamus, and Camillo (after HIS flight to Bohemia!) wear blue-grey Scottish-style togas, running from the waist on one side up over the shoulder and behind the neck to come down on the other side to run under and then back over the arm (and probably handing to around waist height again there). Camillo, though in the Bohemian fashion, should be wearing his Scot-toga (what DO they call those things?) in a Sicilian burgundy color to signify his status as expatriate. Small circlets for Leontes and Polixenes would be nice -- or should that be a props item? Polixenes and Camillo need largish grungy cloaks to conceal themselves in for when they spy on Florizel. Three characters need a simple under-costume supplemented by overlays. Autolycus needs something atrocious -- full of holes and thoroughly distressed -- to start off with, and then can add a more fantastical (patchwork?) poncho or some such in his peddler disguise. He also needs a fake beard, though that's probably props too. :-) And then he needs a slightly better-looking outfit (maybe just a grungy Scot-toga over the usual ensemble? Much more grey than blue?) for his last scene in V.ii. Zane Rockenbaugh plays our Servant (both court and country), our Gaoler, and our Mariner. I think we can put him in the basic court ensemble, sans cloak (Sicilian servant), and then add, in turn, a very dirty-looking poncho and crushed hat (Gaoler), a weather-cloak (shared with Pol or Cam above?) for Mariner, and something rustic-looking but presentable as country Servant. Nick Collins, our Lord/Officer, will probably be standing in as a rustic in the dance, so we'll need some sort of overlay for his courtly garb too. Hermione has to start the play eight or nine months pregnant (props or no?). If you want physical models, two pregnant friends of mine are coming by Baker not this Thursday but next to give walking lessons. She needs very queenly, gracious garb for her first scenes. Then, we she's dragged into court right after her delivery, we need something very simple, very spare, both to emphasize her new slimness and to show how far she's fallen. A simple white cassock-style thing, belted at the waist with a finely-braided rope? Your suggestions are welcome. We're playing Paulina younger than many production do. I have an idea of putting her in cullotes (sp?) instead of a dress, to emphasize the "liberated woman" aspect we've been toying with. Perdita should have something absolutely gracious but bizarre when she first comes in -- she describes herself as "pranked up" by Florizel for her role as mistress of the feast. I'm thinking a crown of wheat sheaves or some such might do the trick, along with a dress somewhat finer than what many of the country folk wear. (If we can pull that off, it might even fit in when she visits Sicily in Act V). Basically, we need to see that Florizel has been loading her with gifts and presents, but she needs to still seem a creature of the country. Yes, I know that's a hard balance to strike. :-) Emilia is only in one scene, in the court. Our Mopsa and Dorcas double as First and Second Lady attending Hermione, so if we can handle them with overlays it would be fine. Mopsa should look, well, kind of sex-pot cheerleader in a Renaissance way: we need to chat with Sasha Vaikhman about how she feels about low necklines (though I'd like her First Lady to be a bit more decorous. Maybe we do need a costume change during intermission). Dorcas should be _much_ more plain and humble-looking, though still capable of being pretty. She's going to be the typical girl with the "great personality," who just needs some self-confidence and attention to shine. We think we have good tops for the Clown, both at the sheep-shearing feast and at the court (see Kindra Welch re: these, and one of them will need some alterations). He does need something simpler for his first two scenes (seashore and robbery): maybe just a white shirt, like those we have abundantly from Much Ado, added to whatever pants we put him in (black poofy ones over tights?). Steven Budd is of big enough build that we don't have anything to fit him, so we need both working clothes for his first scene (beach), sheap-shearing festival clothes for when he's host, and something wild and gaudy, nouveau riche (maybe a nasty plaid or paisley Scot-toga?) for his last scene (V.ii). I myself am playing Time (yes, it's a bit awkward, it was just one of the only ways we could think of to pull it off). I think I'm going to do so in modern dress -- coat and tie. Props, have I mentioned that Helen Havens can't lend us a handbell? We need to check with, say, the Lutheran church in the Village, or Palmer Episcopal (or Autry House). If it helps, I've played in a handbell choir before, so I know how to take good care of them. And I'm the director, so (hopefully!) I'm a responsible person, and I'm the only one who will handle the pretty little thing. That handles most of it, probably in more detail than you really wanted at this point. :-) I'll have all the principals together next Thursday (before the pregnancy consulting bit), if you want to try to catch them then for measurements. Or I'm happy to call a special meeting of the whole cast if you'd like to get them all measure in one fell swoop. Let me know, and please do tell me if I tend to talk to you too much or try to drown you in too many suggestions at once (directors who used to be actors sometimes are guilty of that, I know!). I'm glad to have you on board, and look forward to your suggestions and designs! ----------------------------*------------------------*------------------------ Joseph L. "Chepe" Lockett |"Nullum magnum ingenium | GURPS fan, Amiga user, http://www.io.com/~jlockett | sine mixtura dementiae | Shakespearean scholar, Email: jlockett@io.com | fuit." -- Seneca | actor and director.