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The job of the Great River Shakespeare Festival’s costume shop is to transport an audience to the Renaissance for “The Merchant of Venice” and create a circus-like environment for “The Taming of the Shrew,” both of which will be performed June 27 through July 27 at Winona State University’s Performing Arts Center Main Stage.
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In order for these plays to be successful, both need to take the audience to another time and another place. Costumes are part of the trip.
The work begins when the design team meets with the directors to talk about the period and look of the plays. Pictures from magazines and costume swatches help provide inspiration.
“It’s like a Chinese menu,” costume shop supervisor Jeanne Oost said. “You pick something from column A and something from column B.” Thumbnail sketches called “roughs” are developed for potential costumes.
Camille Assaf is the costume designer for “The Taming of the Shrew.” She met with director Alec Wild to discuss the circus imagery feel he wanted for the very physical comedy. “I’m like a messenger between the director, my vision and the people making the costumes,” Assaf said. “I’m the eye.”
Assaf is from Paris and loved playing dress up as a kid.
“Of course I was a princess most of the time,” she said.
Costumes always fascinated her. She loves helping create a new world through costume.
“It’s key to the suspension of disbelief,” she said.
Assaf admits she’s not much of a seamstress. She prefers design.
“They’re two very different expertise. I’m more about the text and imagery,” she said.
Megan Richardson’s job as draper for “Shrew” is to make Assaf’s vision a reality. She creates patterns for the costumes.
“It’s a very collaborative process,” Richardson said.
Most of the fabric is bought in New York, where many costume shop staffers live.
Richardson is a sewing expert, although she doesn’t do much of it for herself.
“I used to make my own clothes,” she said. “That has stopped.”
Wig master and wardrobe supervisor Tim Nelson has put more than 50 hours of work into styling a blonde wig for Portia in “The Merchant of Venice.” The wig is made of human hair, which Nelson says is often used from Asian hair because it’s thicker and can stand up to dye. He guesses the wig consists of hair from six or seven people.
Actors wear five wigs total in both plays. The wigs allow Nelson to take more time styling the hair and work on them in advance of the shows. They also help with quick changes since many of the actors play multiple parts.
He’s also responsible for the facial hair and mustaches used in the show.
To make the wigs look more real, Nelson latch hooks individual hairs to frame the face. He decided to give one wig a widow’s peak.
He creates soft curls and braids to give it an authentic Renaissance feel.
“They didn’t have curling irons back then,” Nelson said.
The work is time consuming. “Merchant of Venice” costume designer Margaret Weedon was here for the first season of Shakespeare and remembers working from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. for four weeks straight.
“I had to take two years off,” she said.
She’s been with GRSF since season three. The costume shop’s staff has more than doubled, making Weedon’s job much easier.
Four costume interns stay through the GRSF season, taking care of all the costumes and making repairs as necessary.
Nick Abeel, an acting apprentice who attends the University of Evansille in Indiana, spent Thursday morning sewing a fat suit from an old white running shirt and spandex. Many of the apprentices help out in other areas as needed.
“As an actor, it helps you appreciate how much work goes into a show,” Abeel said. “It’s not just you.”
Contact Käri Knutson at kknutson@winonadailynews.com or (507) 453-3523.
