Projects: Crafts responsibilities for Pericles, PlayMakers Repertory Company
Tonight is Opening Night for Pericles, so it's time for an overview post of the work that came through the Costume Crafts department on this show! This post doesn't include every single item we worked on, but it does cover quite a few...
First, let me offer my usual disclaimer that all of the images and information that i share in this blog is strictly by permission of the artists, artisans, designers, and companies that i work for. I have worked under non-disclosure contracts and the pieces i have produced in those jobs have not appeared on this blog nor been discussed. I have had some inquiries about the legality of "behind the scenes"-style blogging--when i write about PlayMakers shows and the UNC graduate program, it is with their knowledge and permission.
Now that that's out of the way, let's go!
Dyeing and Distressing
Pericles wins the gold for "most custom dye projects required in my tenure as PRC Crafts Artisan," with 63 total dye effects, a figure that blows the previous recordholder (Amadeus, with 45) out of the water. Most of these are things you would never know about, as an audience member, such as this:
Joy Jones as Dionyza, Kenneth P. Strong as Cleon
The dusty purple robe worn by the character of Cleon began life as 8 yards of a soft slate blue fabric, which I dyed to this color in our 60 gallon dye vat. Many of the fabrics in this show were carefully color-match dyed to colors specified by costume designer McKay Coble. (This shot also illustrates the cool body of water on the set!)
Other dye projects in the show are more likely things you *would* notice as a particular effect, sitting in the audience (or, looking at these pictures), like these:
Alice Whitley as Antiochus' Daughter, Jeffrey Blair Cornell as Antiochus
You all saw that red fabric on Antiochus in a previous teaser post, before it turned into a costume--i mottle-dyed it using a rudimentary shibori process. Here's the fabric photo again, for reference:
yardage detail of dye pattern
Marianne Miller as Diana, Joy Jones as Thaisa
See that barest hint of a breath of blue on the hemlines of the white Thaisa dress? That was an ombre process i did. Ombre is apparently big right now in fashion, too. which i have mixed feelings on--sometimes it's beautiful, but other times it's focus-stealing and can make you look drained. In this case, it's lovely (IMO).
There was also a fair amount of distressing on this production, of which i have a couple of illustrative images:
Jason Powers, Jimmy Kieffer, and Kahlil Gonzales-Garcia as Fishermen
Look carefully at this image, paying close attention to the grime on the men. All these clothes were new and unbesmirched at first. The stains around the knees of the man on the left, the "fish guts stains" on the central man's shirt, and the slight water-darkened staining around the hems of the pants of the man on the right were all added.
Here's a better picture of the "fish guts" aging:
Scott Ripley as Pericles, Jimmy Kieffer as Fisherman
Alice Whitley as Marina, Prince T. Bowie and John Brummer as Pirates
We also beat up that leather armor on the rightmost pirate, and replaced all its straps and buckles. Pirates are always good for some serious distressing. In fact, i usually assign one person "pirates" in the ditressing project portion of my dye class, just because they have such cool grime--blood stains, salt stains, sweat/dirt.
Hats and Headdresses
You may recall from my previous post that my assistant on this show, first-year student Lisa Raymond, made some yellow rain-hats for our Sailors:
Scott Ripley as Pericles at center, Derek Ledbetter and John Brummer as Sailors
Here they are, matching those raincoats!
Alice Whitley as Antiochus' Daughter, Jeffrey Blair Cornell as Antiochus
Notice that headdress on Antiochus' Daughter in this image. We assembled that onto a wire-frame foundation so it could be quickly taken on and off like a hat or tiara:
headdress with elements pinned in place, front view
headdress with elements pinned in place, rear view
And, in case you have been biting your nails in suspense (ok, exagerration) over what this image might be:
...i'll walk through it step-by-step.
It began existence as a pulled buckram cap built up with ethafoam pipe insulation,
before being mulled with icewool as you see it in the first image.
Detail of foam understructure.
My assistant, Lisa, then covered the whole thing in spandex fabric.
Back view.
By now, i think it's clear this is going to be some kind of freaky wig-hat, yes?
Lisa stitched braided track hair all over this base form.
(Originally, the braids were to be auburn instead of this red, hence the color of the spandex.
There was no time to recover it in a matching shade for this hair.)
The hair's all attached and ready to go!
(I dated a guy with this hair in the early 1990s. Times do change.)
We made "rats" of red craft net to roll the hair up onto,
and Lisa secured the hairstyle by stitching the braids into the base structure.
The cap was lined in a brown canvas and this gold velvet headband added.
A hairnet secures the style and minimizes flyaways.
The final step was adding a few "hangsy-downsy" braids at the temples...
...and voila! Jimmy Kieffer as Bawd counsels Alice Whitley as Marina.
Which brings us nicely to the resolution of the geta-soled foot-upholstery-looking SHOES.
Jimmy Kieffer as Bawd
Jeffrey Blair Cornell as Pandar, Jimmy Kieffer as Bawd, and Jason Powers as Boult
So there you have the overview of costume craftwork on this production, which opens tonight at PlayMakers Repertory Company, featuring music by Jack Herrick of the Red Clay Ramblers. I haven't seen any of it yet so i hope it's a good show! I'll give it this: the costumes and set are at least worth the price of admission. :)
First, let me offer my usual disclaimer that all of the images and information that i share in this blog is strictly by permission of the artists, artisans, designers, and companies that i work for. I have worked under non-disclosure contracts and the pieces i have produced in those jobs have not appeared on this blog nor been discussed. I have had some inquiries about the legality of "behind the scenes"-style blogging--when i write about PlayMakers shows and the UNC graduate program, it is with their knowledge and permission.
Now that that's out of the way, let's go!
Dyeing and Distressing
Pericles wins the gold for "most custom dye projects required in my tenure as PRC Crafts Artisan," with 63 total dye effects, a figure that blows the previous recordholder (Amadeus, with 45) out of the water. Most of these are things you would never know about, as an audience member, such as this:
Joy Jones as Dionyza, Kenneth P. Strong as Cleon
The dusty purple robe worn by the character of Cleon began life as 8 yards of a soft slate blue fabric, which I dyed to this color in our 60 gallon dye vat. Many of the fabrics in this show were carefully color-match dyed to colors specified by costume designer McKay Coble. (This shot also illustrates the cool body of water on the set!)
Other dye projects in the show are more likely things you *would* notice as a particular effect, sitting in the audience (or, looking at these pictures), like these:
Alice Whitley as Antiochus' Daughter, Jeffrey Blair Cornell as Antiochus
You all saw that red fabric on Antiochus in a previous teaser post, before it turned into a costume--i mottle-dyed it using a rudimentary shibori process. Here's the fabric photo again, for reference:
yardage detail of dye pattern
Marianne Miller as Diana, Joy Jones as Thaisa
See that barest hint of a breath of blue on the hemlines of the white Thaisa dress? That was an ombre process i did. Ombre is apparently big right now in fashion, too. which i have mixed feelings on--sometimes it's beautiful, but other times it's focus-stealing and can make you look drained. In this case, it's lovely (IMO).
There was also a fair amount of distressing on this production, of which i have a couple of illustrative images:
Jason Powers, Jimmy Kieffer, and Kahlil Gonzales-Garcia as Fishermen
Look carefully at this image, paying close attention to the grime on the men. All these clothes were new and unbesmirched at first. The stains around the knees of the man on the left, the "fish guts stains" on the central man's shirt, and the slight water-darkened staining around the hems of the pants of the man on the right were all added.
Here's a better picture of the "fish guts" aging:
Scott Ripley as Pericles, Jimmy Kieffer as Fisherman
Alice Whitley as Marina, Prince T. Bowie and John Brummer as Pirates
We also beat up that leather armor on the rightmost pirate, and replaced all its straps and buckles. Pirates are always good for some serious distressing. In fact, i usually assign one person "pirates" in the ditressing project portion of my dye class, just because they have such cool grime--blood stains, salt stains, sweat/dirt.
Hats and Headdresses
You may recall from my previous post that my assistant on this show, first-year student Lisa Raymond, made some yellow rain-hats for our Sailors:
Scott Ripley as Pericles at center, Derek Ledbetter and John Brummer as Sailors
Here they are, matching those raincoats!
Alice Whitley as Antiochus' Daughter, Jeffrey Blair Cornell as Antiochus
Notice that headdress on Antiochus' Daughter in this image. We assembled that onto a wire-frame foundation so it could be quickly taken on and off like a hat or tiara:
headdress with elements pinned in place, front view
headdress with elements pinned in place, rear view
And, in case you have been biting your nails in suspense (ok, exagerration) over what this image might be:
...i'll walk through it step-by-step.
It began existence as a pulled buckram cap built up with ethafoam pipe insulation,
before being mulled with icewool as you see it in the first image.
Detail of foam understructure.
My assistant, Lisa, then covered the whole thing in spandex fabric.
Back view.
By now, i think it's clear this is going to be some kind of freaky wig-hat, yes?
Lisa stitched braided track hair all over this base form.
(Originally, the braids were to be auburn instead of this red, hence the color of the spandex.
There was no time to recover it in a matching shade for this hair.)
The hair's all attached and ready to go!
(I dated a guy with this hair in the early 1990s. Times do change.)
We made "rats" of red craft net to roll the hair up onto,
and Lisa secured the hairstyle by stitching the braids into the base structure.
The cap was lined in a brown canvas and this gold velvet headband added.
A hairnet secures the style and minimizes flyaways.
The final step was adding a few "hangsy-downsy" braids at the temples...
...and voila! Jimmy Kieffer as Bawd counsels Alice Whitley as Marina.
Which brings us nicely to the resolution of the geta-soled foot-upholstery-looking SHOES.
Jimmy Kieffer as Bawd
Jeffrey Blair Cornell as Pandar, Jimmy Kieffer as Bawd, and Jason Powers as Boult
So there you have the overview of costume craftwork on this production, which opens tonight at PlayMakers Repertory Company, featuring music by Jack Herrick of the Red Clay Ramblers. I haven't seen any of it yet so i hope it's a good show! I'll give it this: the costumes and set are at least worth the price of admission. :)