Obviously, no woman in the 18 th century, Duchess or not, would wear pants. It was during this time that the director and Amy Blackman and I decided to put Theodosia in breeches. I met with a few of the actors before even finishing the designs to discuss their concerns and ideas. I am one of those designers who considers the actors equal partners in the design process (they’re the ones wearing the clothes, after all) and that method of working was particularly helpful on a play like this. Because the play had so many physical challenges, I also tried to collaborate as closely as I could with the actors. Working in tandem with the other designers and our fearless leader, Jeffrey Binder, we slowly but surely saw our collaborative design come into focus. As this is a period piece, my first stop was to the library where I began refreshing my knowledge of 18 th century English culture, history, and fashion. The process of costume design nearly always begins with research, and lots of it. It’s quite a beautiful and spectacular time, but that would be a disservice to the story and the other artists, so it was important to keep my eye on what the final result would look like. And in a period piece like this one, it would be easy to allow the costumes to overwhelm the actors and the story. As a costume designer, my most important job is to tell the story. The first step is to understand the story and its themes inside and out. Sword fighting in corsets and petticoats and enormous wigs, you say? Bring it on.Īfter reading the play a half a dozen times, I dove in. I was excited about the challenge of working on a new 18 th century period piece, full of strong female characters who all spend much of the play sword fighting and rolling around on stage. And I appreciated its connection to the English Restoration plays of the 17 th century, the sparkling banter of the later Sentimental Comedies, and the biting wit of Moliere. When I first read Arthur’s delightful play, I was entranced. It’s an exhilarating and humbling experience. I love the challenges such an experience brings, to do something that very few have done before, to be among the first to interpret and bring a play to life. But nothing brings me greater joy than working on a brand new play. I have had the great fortune to design over a hundred productions in my twenty years working as a costume designer. This week’s blog was written by The Lady Demands Satisfaction Costume Designer Kirche Leigh Zeile.
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