Elizabethan Costume Design and Construction

(The Focal Press Costume Topics Series)

Helen Huang, Emily Hoem, Kelsey Hunt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781136085659
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre

Learn how to create historically accurate costumes for Elizabethan period productions with Elizabethan Costume Design and Construction! Extensive coverage of a variety of costumes for both men and women of all social classes will allow you to be prepared for any costuming need, and step-by-step instructions will ensure you have the know-how to design and construct your garments. Get inspired by stunning, hand-drawn renderings of costumes used in real life productions like Mary Stuart as you're led through the design process. Detailed instructions will allow you to bring your designs to life and create a meticulously constructed costume.

PART 1

THE DESIGN PROCESS

INTRODUCTION

Each theatrical production is unique and unrepeatable. Because of this there are no universal laws that can be expected to govern good design. As a professional costume designer and theatre educator with over 25 years of artistic and academic experience, I have found great success in teaching by example rather than by principle. By guiding my students through my own artistic process I can share with them my passion and help them develop their own approach to design. In this text, I attempt to replicate that experience by exploring the design and construction of my design for the Milwaukee Repertory’s 2003 production of Fredrick Schiller’s Mary Stuart. I am not a historian or an authority on the period. Rather, I am an artist sharing with you the process of creating her art. I have written this work with the young designer in mind, in hopes that showcasing my own process will guide early career designers to a deeper level of artistry and execution in their own work.

one

COLLABORATION
AND INITIAL
CONVERSATIONS

In 2003 I was contracted to design costumes for a production of Mary Stuart at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, to be directed by Joseph Henreddy. Mary Stuart is a play by Friedrich Schiller that depicts the final days of Mary, Queen of Scots, who was imprisoned by her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, because of her potential claim to the English throne. The plot revolves around an attempt to rescue Mary from prison and Elizabeth’s indecision over whether or not to have her executed. I began the design process with a careful study of the script to thoroughly understand both its emotional tone and physical requirements. I found myself thrilled by this remarkable play with its powerful language and dynamic rhythm.

Having initiated my own relationship with the script, the next step was a series of discussions with Joe Henreddy, the director, which focused on the rhythm of the script and the concept of power. Having been struck by the accessibility of Elizabeth and Mary in the script, I was particularly interested in discussing the play’s multi-faceted commentary on women in a position of power and in bringing a sense of realness and humanity to these historical figures. Joe saw the script as a sophisticated analysis of political process and found parallels in Elizabeth’s decision to execute Mary Stuart with the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and the ensuing national debate on the validity of preemptive attack. The foundation of our working relationship was laid while engaging these points. We did not endeavor to create a final design during this initial meeting. Rather, we let the conversation establish our connection and mutual understanding of the play. Subsequently, I allowed that connection and understanding to work within me as I continued on to the next stage in the process by collecting research.

Joe and I continued our collaboration by responding to this research imagery together and expanding upon our initial conversation about the themes and motifs present in Schiller’s work. During these conversations, the play’s connection to contemporary US politics became paramount in our approach to the work. We knew the national debate over preemptive attack and its attendant dynamics would be in the fore of Henreddy’s mind while directing the performers and yet we felt creating a direct visual comparison through costume would be heavy-handed. Rather, this principal parallel found its expression in costume by analyzing the embodiment and expression of power.

Together, Joe and I noted that individuals in a position of power or authority in today’s society, much as in the Elizabethan period, adopt a very still and controlled body language. Gestures are kept small and seem to gain all the more significance for it; often, the person leaping about or waving their arms is the least powerful in the room. Additionally, Joe noted that the two principal females in the show, Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Mary Stuart, occupy the stage for long periods of time as each had long poetic speeches that could last up to seven or eight minutes. For this reason we wanted to create a world of striking contrast, costuming Elizabeth and Mary in ways which would visually separate them but would also create a powerfully focused image when they took the stage alone and needed to command attention for long spans of time.

Figure 1.1 The striking contrast of two queens. Deborah Staples as Queen Mary and Laura Gordon as Queen Elizabeth.

From these impulses, I developed a color concept in which each queen existed in a distinctly separate color “world.” Elizabeth appeared in a deep red: the color of blood, passion, and power. It dominated the eye and played sharply off her chalk-white makeup and the glossy black of the set. Mary, by contrast, was shrouded in a blue-toned grey: soft and touchable, weary and worn-over.

Figure 1.2 The color concept for the court of Elizabeth was red, gold, and white.

Figure 1.3 The world of Mary was in various shades of grey.

The logic of this initial color concept was extended throughout their respective courts. The “world” of Elizabeth’s court was red, gold, and white while the “world” of Mary’s court appeared in various shades of grey, blue, and black. With such a limited color palette, the proportions and intensity of the colors I chose for each character in the court became incredibly important. Using these properties of color, I was able to convey the position and status of each character within the courts. For example: Elizabeth’s counselors, William Cecil and George Talbot, both wore the red of Elizabeth’s world. Cecil’s use of the shade, accented with dashing moments of gold and white, conveyed a regal bearing and prideful sort of authority. By contrast, Talbot’s particular shade was deeper and more subdued, framed by black velvet and suggesting a power drawn from the wisdom amassed in his many years of service. The Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth’s romantic interest, used the color red to a lesser degree than the counselors. His light hand with the color suggested the ultimate subordination of romantic feeling to political power that would play out in the text. The agents of Elizabeth’s machinations, guards, messen...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• series
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Frontmatter
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1 The Design Process
• 2 Construction
• Index