Friday, November 10, 2006
Students learn costume construction skills for "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"
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As a teacher, Shan Jensen’s favorite role is helping USI students realize their potential as costumers. USI Theatre’s current production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, gave Jensen the opportunity to introduce students to design challenges and costume construction skills. The Design Process Jensen worked with Elliot Wasserman, associate professor of theatre and director of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to develop the vision for the production’s costumes. Wasserman envisioned the members of the Athenian court (Theseus and Hippolyta, Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demtrius) as western colonialists exploring a newfound land, while the members of the fairy kingdom (Oberon, Titania and Puck) reflect the magical and exotic world they find in the forest. Jensen began her process with research. For example, medieval and pre-Raphaelite images influenced Jensen’s design for Titania’s costume. She ultimately blended the two periods to create a very romantic look. Jensen showed her drawings to Wasserman, and with his agreement, she moved on to selecting fabrics. USI theatre major Amanda Grubb served as Jensen’s assistant designer. She was given the task of creating the donkey head worn in the forest by Bottom and the lion’s costume worn by Snug. Jensen selected those tasks because “they provided Amanda with an opportunity to work with both the world of the fairies and the world of the mechanicals.” In addition, Grubb designed the makeup for the fairies. Jensen is proud of Grubb’s work. She said, “Amanda has designed makeup for the fairies that takes them out of the realm of the mortal world. The makeup is centered around the eyes, giving a sense of a half-mask, but it isn’t concealing or overpowering. Her work on the donkey head and the lion paraphernalia is also excellent.” Constucting the Costumes The USI Theatre costume shop is staffed with students working under Jensen’s supervision. Each costume constructed for A Midsummer Night’s Dream reflects many hours of work. Jensen estimates that Titania’s costume alone reflects more than 20 hours of effort. In addition to Grubb, USI theatre majors Jeni Ahlfeld and Jeannine Gamble were responsible for building many of the costumes for the production with assistance from less advanced students. Each costume required development of a pattern, constructing a mockup made out of muslin, and fitting the mockup on the actor to make any necessary adjustments before beginning construction of the costume from the fashion fabrics. Jensen noted that the costume shop normally keeps the mock-up to use as a soft pattern, but because USI student actors had limited experience working with long trains and capes onstage, she gave the mock-ups to the actors to use in rehearsals. Jensen said working on A Midsummer Night’s Dream gave her the opportunity to teach many costuming skills that will be valuable to her students in their professional careers. The associate professor of theatre enjoyed a successful career designing and creating costumes for theatre, television, and films such as Billy Bathgate, A League of Their Own, Goodfellas, and Legal Eagles before coming to USI in 1993. One costuming skill used is the blending of several commercial patterns to create a new pattern that reflects what the designer wants. Jensen said, “It’s time saving to work that way, but it is also very practical. Many professionals use that technique” Most costumes require two fittings, one for the mock-up, and one when the costume is nearing completion. According to Jensen, even when working with expensive fabrics, more fittings are not realistic. “You can’t keep dragging actors away from their other responsibilities to come in for fittings,” she said, “and it’s important for costuming students to learn to get the information they need quickly.” Jensen assigned specific projects to Ahlfeld and Gamble. Both have additional responsibilities for the production. Ahlfeld plays Puck, and Gamble is the stage manager. Ahlfeld built much of Oberon’s costume, perhaps reflecting the important onstage relationship between Puck and Oberon. Gamble drafted Titania’s cape from scratch. The cape uses several different fabrics layered one on top of another to reflect nature, power, magic, and sensuality. In Performance With the costumes built, the cast began dress rehearsals. Jensen was backstage before the first dress rehearsal to discuss the costumes with the actors. As always, she instructed them that they not to eat or drink in costume. Grubb will continue her work on the production throughout its run by serving as wardrobe supervisor, making sure the costumes are properly laundered and ironed before each performance and making any necessary repairs. A crew of dressers will help actors with changes backstage and assist Grubb with wardrobe. For Jensen, seeing the costumes onstage and under the lights was a moment of truth and triumph. “The students have worked so hard on this show,” she said, “and I’ve loved seeing the sense of pride they have in their work.” A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs through November 19 at USI Theatre. For more information, visit www.usi.edu/libarts/arts/theatre/USITheatre/. |
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