Costumes are another visual element of theatre. When an actor is in costumes he or she take on the persona of the character merging into a single image on stage. The clothes, accessories, hair, mask, jewelry, and makeup are all part of the costume to focus the attention on the character; the costume should be aesthetic and symbolic of the director concept and the playwright’s intent of the essences of that character. For each theatre discipline, there are requirements that must completed in order to achieve the objective of the play, to bring the story to life and the images of the script into reality for the audience to virtually step into the scene. The costume designer must all so create the costume to do just that; it must mesh with …show more content…
The tone and style should be set in the play, is it a comedy or serious, maybe it's a tragedy the costume should reflect that so the audience do not have to wonder or be confused.
2. A period of time and place should be indicated by the costume. The audience should be able to tell if the story is taking place in the past, present or the future. Also the period, Roman times, the roaring twenties, now in the present, or futuristic space age.
3. The character’s personality and status should be conveyed. The costume should express the type of station in life, is the character rich or poor, queen or commoner, nurse or doctor, in addition what type of personality is the character, fearful or shy, colorful or confident, evil or angelic.
4. The relationship with the other characters should be distinguished. Costumes can separate the main character for the rest of the cast such as, a queen for her handmaidens. Also the relationship of one group from another; for instance, the bad guys from the good guys.
5. There should be a symbolic visual of the character or nonhuman. In many cases a play may have animals or fictional characters like fairies; the costume still must project the image, so when the audience lookouts they will not see an actor but a
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Costumes must have a uniformity with the entire production. The congruence of the entire production is essential to be consistent. One cannot have the scenery saying one thing, the lighting something else, and the costumes another. For example, a play about Caesar and Cleopatra set B.C. times with the scenery depicting Rome, but he is dressed in a suit and tie and her in a flapper dress. It will be very odd and confusing to the audience. Upon searching the web, I was able to pick the above picture which is reprehensive of the seven objectives of costume design. I am not aware of the play or storyline; nevertheless, I can see the objective clearly and I conclude the designer’s goals were accomplished The tone and style take my imagination to a swinish buckle pirate in cavalier boots. The swords drawn indicate to me a serious scene. The period was in the past, maybe the 18th century. The character’s personality has the appearance of confidence, strong and able. As for his status in life, one can derive for him standing on a ship, he the captain defending his ship, or maybe be a pirate stealing from the ship. My guess would be the
Costumes were also an important aspect of the play. Since five women played the role of one character, costumes played an important role in distinguishing "which" Ida B. Wells was speaking. The costumes were also important to the chronology of the play. They reflected the time period and also communicated much to the audience about the character of Ida B.
Clothing that is worn by the actors during the play can be a reflection of the characters personalities. Nick, Lucy, Lewis and Julie all seem to be in normal clothing, reflecting the fact they are relatively normal, and don’t show signs of extreme ‘Madness.’ Ruth wears simple, old, and neat clothes that reflect her OCD, and the colours and patterns that Roy wears reflect his crazy and upbeat personality. Meanwhile, Henry wears business-like outfits that you would expect to see a lawyer wear. This helps to inf...
A significant aspect of the play is the acting and wardrobe, because it helps demonstrate the personalities of the characters.
He said the worst thing they [costume designer] can wear are interesting clothes. “Nothing destroys confidence like cleverly inventive clothes worn by your costume or wardrobe person because it means you are spending time thinking about yourself. You need to save all of your energy and design essence for the work.” -Long, William. Interview.
Like Zeffirelli, Luhrmann used many symbols to get across to the audience what his dialogue missed, and what he wanted to communicate to the audience about each character. For example Romeo’s costume may be the first thing the audience may notice; Romeo is wearing armour, symbolising him being the knight in shining armour. As for Juliet her costume is a white chast white gown from her earlier angel costume, signifying innocence and purity
As I have set the play in the 21st century, I would dress Cecily, another one of the four main characters, in a flowery pink dress. I have chosen the colour pink as it is a calm, pastel colour and shows Cecily's girly, childish innocence; also as we know Cecily is meant to be very pretty, the whole notion of being `pretty in pink' emphasizes on her beauty. The flowers on the dress represent the fact that she lives in the country but it is also another feminine factor. The style of the dress would be quite fashionable and casual yet at the same time elegant. I would give her a pink designer handbag in order to show that she is rich and posh. She would wear pink dolly shoes again symbolize her youth and innocence. If I were choosing an actress to play the part of Cecily, I would choose someone fair skinned with blonde hair and quite flat chested to show the innocence and purity of Cecily.
Though its primary function is usually plot driven--as a source of humor and a means to effect changes in characters through disguise and deception—cross dressing is also a sociological motif involving gendered play. My earlier essay on the use of the motif in Shakespeare's plays pointed out that cross dressing has been discussed as a symptom of "a radical discontinuity in the meaning of the family" (Belsey 178), as cul-tural anxiety over the destabilization of the social hierarchy (Baker, Howard, Garber), as the means for a woman to be assertive without arousing hostility (Claiborne Park), and as homoerotic arousal (Jardine). This variety of interpretations suggests the multivoiced character of the motif, but before approaching the subject of this essay, three clarifica- tions are necessary at the outset.
The King for an example was the only character who was seen wearing animal fur on his robe. This outfit befitted his character because it magnified and brought out his barbaric and savage like characteristics. Furthermore, the costumes allowed the audience to see that stark differences in each social class. It allowed for a visual comparison between the totally different lifestyles that Hamlet and Ophelia had, reinforcing the reason why Laertes cautioned Ophelia about her relationship with Hamlet and why Polonius was so obsequious to the King. The outfits thus explain why each character behaves the way they do, creating a more effective portrayal of the play
FASHION is a play that permeates throughout the centuries. Its themes about fashion and our treatment of it speak strongly to each subsequent generation in America. What is important to us? What matters most to us? How do we want others to see us? How do we want others to accept us? It would be just as easy to produce the play contemporarily today with just a few adjustments. The audience would certainly understand it, and many would see themselves within it.
The Impact of Gender on Shakespeare’s Othello. In the book “Gender Trouble” (1990), feminist theorist Judith Butler explains “gender is not only a social construct, but also a kind of performance such as a show we put on, a costume or disguise we wear” (Butler). In other words, gender is a performance, an act, and costumes, not the main aspect of essential identity. By understanding this theory of gender as an act, performance, we can see how gender has greatly impacted the outcome of the play in William Shakespeare’s Othello.
Appearance vs. Reality in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. In Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies, there is a prevailing theme that is concurrent throughout the play. Throughout the play, all the characters appear to be one thing on the outside. yet on the inside, they are completely different. The theme of Appearance versus reality is prominent in Hamlet because of the fact that the characters portray themselves differently from what they really are.
An author can reveal characteristics of characters in literature through several different methods. Some common methods of characterization include one’s appearance, speech, thoughts, name, actions, and emotions. However, unconventional means can also be used, such as imagery, which is visually descriptive or figurative language. In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, imagery is used to characterize central characters to the play. Firstly, Hamlet’s characteristics are revealed through the imagery of death in his speech. Secondly, Claudius’ characteristics are revealed through the imagery in the Ghost and Hamlet’s descriptions of him, as well as his own thoughts. It is through this visually descriptive and figurative language, that readers can identify characteristics of these central characters.
For many people, the characters of a play hold the most importance in creating enjoyment and interest in play.... ... middle of paper ... ...compare Elizabethan values to their own.
Piatti-Farnell (2013) stresses the symbolic value of costume in cinema, and its effect on characterisation and the relationship between a character and its audience. Morpheus once lived as a human in the matrix, he wears mostly black, including full length leather trench coat, mirrored sunglasses and black combat boots. Street (2001) talks of costumes that power to make individuals stand out and to show an individual’s affiliation to a group. Although we are first meeting Morpheus, we are able to establish a lot about his character. We can link him to the matrix, and his coat makes us feel fearful of his authority and power.
The costumes were multifunctional and were kept simple, white with stains of red and brown, whilst looking worn. The costumes were kept basic as it allowed for the performance to have no set date or time period, unlike the original performance conditions. Hats were used so that the actors could change from character to character easily without leaving the stage. For example, in IV.i; Mark Bernie, who played Duncan, transitioned from a servant into the infant ghost embodiment of Banquo by placing a baby grow, which was also used as his hat, under his chin. Alternatively, the costumes worn by Shakespeare's actors were nonspecific and numbered, as what they had, was all they had. Whilst deprived of costumed, companies were gifted with items of clothing that royalty discarded. Royal figures in Shakespeare's productions would be dressed in colours prominent with British royalty, for example, Cleopatra, in Antony and Cleopatra (1607), would not have been dressed in traditional Egyptian wear, but in a gown passed down from royalty. In modern performances this would distract the audience from the performance and would be seen as careless; though the costumes were basic in the modern performance, modern audiences have a higher