Costume Analysis

Today we had our costume presentation by TTA, who had drawn and annotated our rough costume designs. I have two costumes, one for when I'm Celia in Parliament and the second when I'm disguised as Aliena in the Forest. We later agreed that for the last scene of the play where Celia reveals her true identity, I would have a mash up of the two costumes, showing how I'm still part of my old self but that I've really grown accustomed to the Forest lifestyle. This was really exciting because it have me a feeling of unity between the two strands but also of our characters and their clothes. It made me feel as if the whole production was coming together.

For me, costumes are vital for helping me really become my character. I know that you shouldn't need a costume to be your character completely, but I think it helps with the realism for the audience and also for the actor, because you can move properly and as your character would because you are in their attire. I like my costumes because there is a continuity between the three, always being quite modest and formal but still each one changes according to Celia's state. The grey suit at the beginning is long and well fitted, very typically Celia who doesn't like to draw attention to her feminine features. When she is in the Forest dressed as Aliena, she still holds the trait of Celia's modesty, but she goes a little wild in her eyes. The denim skirt and casual stripy jumper are rebellious in her eyes and the fact that she wears the round, John Lennon style glasses is her way of dressing like a hippie. 

Overall I love my costumes and I noticed the energy in my performance really lifted once I had the costumes on. 

This is my costume for the riot scene which opens our play. We all had to wear either a hoodie or a mask. I chose to wear a hoodie because I think that it'll help get me into the riot-mode. 

This is my costume for when I am Aliena. The denim skirt comes down to my knees and I have black tights and flowery wellies on. As I said before this is Celia's idea of what a hippie dresses like. To her this is very rebellious. I decided to put my hair in mousey ears because again I think this is how Celia perceives indie folk to wear their hair. It is also quite a dramatic change from her tight and neat pony tail when she is at home in London. I think this is a perfect outfit for Celia's disguise and it still holds some of her old personality, the modesty and lack of flesh showing, but it also symbolises the change within this character.  Jack and I decided to have her wearing the round glasses because we thought she probably googled the 1960's hippies and found them everywhere. I decided that she had stolen them from her fathers wardrobe, from when he was a hippy.