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labricoleuseIn addition to the silk yardage painting discussed in a post a few days ago, there were quite a few craftwork projects in the current production of Romeo and Juliet, running through October 14th at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, NC.
Nurse's hats:
Hats were the primary concern for me from the moment designs came in--specifically the exciting hats worn by Kathy Hunter-Williams as the Nurse. She had two elaborate pieces, the double caul and the escoffion.
Kathy Hunter-Williams as the Nurse
Here's a good view of the double caul. (A caul is the term for those "Princess Leia"-style braid-bun things.) The headdress consists of the two buns (forms made from acrylic wig hair braided and twisted around a buckram core) mounted on a center-pointed cap covered in metallic silk fabric; the whole thing is then wrapped with a custom dyed and painted batiste head-scarf which is permanently attached. The whole entire thing sits on her head and is held in place with hairpins through hidden horsehair trims.
Here's a top view of the same headdress:
top view of double caul headdress
The piece de resistance though is the escoffion.
This hat was built twice, once in a simplified form for rehearsal (the young Montagues tear the veil off of it onstage when teasing her) and then in the final form you see above. You've already read about the silk yardage painting for the veil fabric, but i'll tell you a bit of info about the hat itself, too.
rehearsal escoffion
Note the sports-net wimple (chin drape) and tear-away veil.
buckram base for stage escoffion
The hat is built from heavy double buckram and two 1/4" wide steel bones support the points up each side. The edges are wired with 18ga millinery wire and bound in bias tape. Then the entire thing is covered with a stretchy fuzzy fabric called icewool, and then the primitive-pleated brown cover fabric is applied. Custom-dyed velcro hides on the backs of the points for the tearaway veil effect. The wimple (of silk chiffon) is put in and the lining installed, and off it goes onstage!
Other hats:
David Friedlander as Peter
Peter's hat was hand-blocked into this silly shape using beaver fur felt. I also built three velvet hats (one red four-cornered style and one black one with earflaps for David Adamson as Lord Montague, and one brown one for Ray Dooley as a party guest) of which no good photos got taken.
Masks:
There were a collection of six masks used in the party scene, produced jointly by myself and costume designer Olivera Gajic. We used those creepy clear plastic bank-robber masks, cut them down, melted them with flame along the edges, adhered cheesecloth and silk leaves to them with white glue, then sprayed with gold enamel in an ombre effect. Here are some images:
Let lips do what hands do.
Matt Dixon as Romeo and Janie Brookshire as Juliet
Justin Adams as Mercutio and Matt Dixon as Romeo
Justin Adams as Mercutio, Chris Taylor as Valentine, and Matt Dixon as Romeo
Above, Mercutio also sports a pair of satyr hoof gaiters made mostly by my assistant, Costume Technician Miranda Morales. The hooves themselves were cut and shaped from thermoplastic, mounted on brocade gaiters, and covered with rows of ombre-dyed track hair (like you find on mass-manufactured wigs and in weave kits). These hooves were cut from the show before opening.
Chains of office:
Important people in Shakespeare always have those big necklacey things draped around their shoulders--Lord Montague, Lord Capulet, the Duke. Making them is a crafts artisan's responsibility:
Ensemble
The ones you see in the above photo were assembled using pieces of belts purchased by the costume designer for this purpose.
Double-ombre dye effects:
Janie Brookshire as Juliet, Kathy Hunter-Williams as the Nurse, and Joy Jones as Lady Capulet
On the right, note the beautiful gown and overdress on the lovely Joy Jones as Lady Capulet. See how it seems like it kind of gets a bit more pinky-reddish down past her waist? NO full-length shot of this costume exists at present, which makes me want to stab myself with a fistful of forks, because the dye effect on both the underdress and overdress are complex and strikingly beautiful.
Essentially, the underdress has an overlayer of gold and black crosswoven chiffon and sleeves of the same fabric. I did a two-process ombre effect on the chiffon, dipping it into first a huge vat of red dye and then a huge vat of purple dye. This creates a blended effect with the color so that the dress is darkest purply-raspberry at the hem, slowly fading from red to orange to gold.
The overdress is a gold and purple crosswoven silk dupioni, on which i did the same two-process ombre effect. Hopefully i can get a photograph taken of the entire thing before the show closes.
Hope you enjoyed this overview!
Nurse's hats:
Hats were the primary concern for me from the moment designs came in--specifically the exciting hats worn by Kathy Hunter-Williams as the Nurse. She had two elaborate pieces, the double caul and the escoffion.
Kathy Hunter-Williams as the Nurse
Here's a good view of the double caul. (A caul is the term for those "Princess Leia"-style braid-bun things.) The headdress consists of the two buns (forms made from acrylic wig hair braided and twisted around a buckram core) mounted on a center-pointed cap covered in metallic silk fabric; the whole thing is then wrapped with a custom dyed and painted batiste head-scarf which is permanently attached. The whole entire thing sits on her head and is held in place with hairpins through hidden horsehair trims.
Here's a top view of the same headdress:
top view of double caul headdress
The piece de resistance though is the escoffion.
This hat was built twice, once in a simplified form for rehearsal (the young Montagues tear the veil off of it onstage when teasing her) and then in the final form you see above. You've already read about the silk yardage painting for the veil fabric, but i'll tell you a bit of info about the hat itself, too.
rehearsal escoffion
Note the sports-net wimple (chin drape) and tear-away veil.
buckram base for stage escoffion
The hat is built from heavy double buckram and two 1/4" wide steel bones support the points up each side. The edges are wired with 18ga millinery wire and bound in bias tape. Then the entire thing is covered with a stretchy fuzzy fabric called icewool, and then the primitive-pleated brown cover fabric is applied. Custom-dyed velcro hides on the backs of the points for the tearaway veil effect. The wimple (of silk chiffon) is put in and the lining installed, and off it goes onstage!
Other hats:
David Friedlander as Peter
Peter's hat was hand-blocked into this silly shape using beaver fur felt. I also built three velvet hats (one red four-cornered style and one black one with earflaps for David Adamson as Lord Montague, and one brown one for Ray Dooley as a party guest) of which no good photos got taken.
Masks:
There were a collection of six masks used in the party scene, produced jointly by myself and costume designer Olivera Gajic. We used those creepy clear plastic bank-robber masks, cut them down, melted them with flame along the edges, adhered cheesecloth and silk leaves to them with white glue, then sprayed with gold enamel in an ombre effect. Here are some images:
Let lips do what hands do.
Matt Dixon as Romeo and Janie Brookshire as Juliet
Justin Adams as Mercutio and Matt Dixon as Romeo
Justin Adams as Mercutio, Chris Taylor as Valentine, and Matt Dixon as Romeo
Above, Mercutio also sports a pair of satyr hoof gaiters made mostly by my assistant, Costume Technician Miranda Morales. The hooves themselves were cut and shaped from thermoplastic, mounted on brocade gaiters, and covered with rows of ombre-dyed track hair (like you find on mass-manufactured wigs and in weave kits). These hooves were cut from the show before opening.
Chains of office:
Important people in Shakespeare always have those big necklacey things draped around their shoulders--Lord Montague, Lord Capulet, the Duke. Making them is a crafts artisan's responsibility:
Ensemble
The ones you see in the above photo were assembled using pieces of belts purchased by the costume designer for this purpose.
Double-ombre dye effects:
Janie Brookshire as Juliet, Kathy Hunter-Williams as the Nurse, and Joy Jones as Lady Capulet
On the right, note the beautiful gown and overdress on the lovely Joy Jones as Lady Capulet. See how it seems like it kind of gets a bit more pinky-reddish down past her waist? NO full-length shot of this costume exists at present, which makes me want to stab myself with a fistful of forks, because the dye effect on both the underdress and overdress are complex and strikingly beautiful.
Essentially, the underdress has an overlayer of gold and black crosswoven chiffon and sleeves of the same fabric. I did a two-process ombre effect on the chiffon, dipping it into first a huge vat of red dye and then a huge vat of purple dye. This creates a blended effect with the color so that the dress is darkest purply-raspberry at the hem, slowly fading from red to orange to gold.
The overdress is a gold and purple crosswoven silk dupioni, on which i did the same two-process ombre effect. Hopefully i can get a photograph taken of the entire thing before the show closes.
Hope you enjoyed this overview!
