For me, a professional costume designer as well as a costume designer in education, it is always more fun to place a well-known play in a different period that the period in which it was written. But I speak selfishly. It needs to be made clear, here that it works best with well-known classics such as Shakespeare, Moliere, or the Greek and Roman plays. If the theme relates well to a different time in history, then it seems to work very well. Even the Shakespearean plays weren't placed "in period" at their time but in a curious mismash of the Elizabethan interpretation of, say, Roman with Renaissance interpretation including doublets and hose. And I think a play or opera from the Baroque period would be great fun if it was designed in the style of the opera costumes of Baroque period, although, as it was pointed out previously, those weren't "period", either, but appear rather strange to the contemporary eye. I have a British director that I design for who always insists on "the period, Darling, of course", without considering the possibilities. So we've had a "Macbeth" in 12th century or so Scotland (fun, anyway because the research was so much fun plus, given that we built 90% of the show a pretty easy time due to the T-shape construction methods of the time). She wanted "Hamlet" in "the period, Darling", but the budget and time constraints wouldn't have allowed for it, so she was talked into an Erte look with Early Jacobean touches. That said, some of the most fun I have had as a designer have been the following plays placed out of period: "Romeo and Juliet"-French Directoire "Measure for Measure"-Antebellum New Orleans "As You Like It"-1960's Hippies vs. Jet Setters "Taming of the Shrew"-California Gold Rush "Pericles"-Vague Gypsy "Midsummer Night's Dream"-An all white court in Renaissance Doublets for the men, pseudo-Greek draperies for the ladies and a host of Punk-inspired fairies (sounds dreadful, but worked very well) I also recall a "Tempest" at Yale back in the '70's which took place on Mars, a "Measure for Measure" at the Royal Shakespeare in Stratford set in the 18th Century (wonderful production), and a very bad "Twelfth Night" at the Young Vic set in the 1930's (it wasn't the costumes which made it bad, it was the stage direction) And I'm sure there are many more that skip my mind as I rattle off this email. Sometimes it's done because time and budget constraints don't allow for the actual period, sometimes because the director wants to "visit" the play in a new play. After it's all over and done, the question to ask is did the chosen play/opera/ballet support the playwright's, etc. original vision? If it didn't, then I would say the choice is not particularly successful. Long post, between bread (rising), pies (in the oven) and stuffing (next on my list) Happy Thanksgiving to all of the Americans on this list, and Peace on Earth to all of us. Cheryl Odom College of Santa Fe _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
