WEEK 5

 

Tech Week is upon us! This is the time when all the ‘technical’ elements of the show can be rehearsed together, like cues, calls and costumes.

The posters are now up (literally) across the site, the cast are on the stage…and it’s not too long until the students join them in the theatre too.

Why not put your skills to the test and design your own costumes, in this week’s task?

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Design Your Own Costumes

A creative brief is given to each member of the creative team working on the project. It is intended to help them structure their ideas and keep a focus on the director’s intended vision for the production. Why not be creative yourself and design your own costume for the production using our costume brief.

The designer for Romeo and Juliet has been asked to design costumes for the production. To do this, they used a creative brief and talked with director Michael Oakley about what themes are important to him in this production.

Why not have a go at the creative brief and design your own costumes for Romeo and Juliet? You can read some top tips for designing a costume below:

1) Be open initially to lots of different options, but remember you will need to focus in on specific ideas related to the character you are designing for. This could be to do with their age, gender, background, shape, height etc.

2) Don’t be afraid to reuse bits of old costume you’ve created in the past or have seen – but remember you’ll also need to think about how characters relate to each other and so view them not only as individuals but as a company.

3) The shape of a costume can be as important as the materials you use – something with good lines and fit can also signify an expensive outfit.

4) You need to make sure your drawing is really clear so that someone could actually make it. To help with this you should include notes describing what materials you will use and any other details.

5) Sometimes you might not be able to say everything about a character through their clothes – think about what accessories you could add to help with your character’s identity.

Now download the Costume Brief and Templates. Once you are done, email your creations to us at digital.i@shakespearesglobe.com and we may feature them on the site.

Week 5 Blog

Monday

Today was the first time we got to see the whole cast in costume together and they look incredible. Designer Alex has used the colour palette found on the stage of the Globe, so everything really comes together with the actors in their costumes on the stage. We also concentrated on using the trapdoor and how to come in and out of it safely (as well as how to safely ‘throw’ dead bodies in there!) We then spent time looking at the fights in costume with fight director Alison – different clothing and shoes can really change how a fight feels to do for actors.

Tuesday

This morning, we began working through from the beginning of the show, looking at each scene with all of the real costume, props, music and sound.

Paul was with us today to run through the party dance and the jig onstage with the full band, who will appear as part of the action several times. We got to see them and our wonderful stage management team in full costume too (they appear onstage to move furniture and have had costumes designed for them by Alex). When they first walked out the cast gave them a massive cheer!

Wednesday

Today we finished working through the play and we had our first ‘dress rehearsal’, with all the creatives watching and on hand. This is when you run the show just like you would if it were a performance, with all the technical elements. The dress rehearsal ran smoothly, and it was great to see new elements we had been unable to run before, like the use of all the stage blood.

Thursday

After a second dress rehearsal in the afternoon, today was the opening night of the show. It was the first family performance and was completely sold out, so the cast had a great audience to play to. All plays are built to be shared with an audience, and there is always an ‘x factor’ that gets added when plays can finally be shared. It was great to see the play in front of an audience, and to experience the energy the audience contribute to the show.