As I have been making the Jungle Animal costumes for my new show "No Time for Monkey Business," I have been pondering how costumes are important to the look of a show and for how the actors get into character. Having costumes also helps the audience keep track of what's going on during the show and helps them follow individual characters
Hippo - without stuffing For this show, I have chosen to use a variety of animal characters --- some that do not necessarily belong in any jungle we are aware of, but are beloved animals for children. So we will have a Lion, a Hyena, a Leopard, a Flamingo, a Hippo, a Giraffe, a Cheetah, a Rhino, and several other very easy to recognize animals. That is important since we have a very limited budget and cannot afford to buy amazing premade artistically beautiful costumes. At best, these costumes are going to be taken from good ideas scrounged from thrift shops, YouTube, and Etsy.
Sometimes I watch movies while I do so much hand sewing. One day I turned on a movie that I had not seen before but had an interesting title and premise. It was a period drama where the actors were supposedly dressed according to styles of the early 1800's in England. (However, the costumes did not actually match what would have been worn in that era. The costumers unfortunately were off by about 20-30 years at least.)
After watching for a time, I began to wonder why I felt so unable to get into the movie. Soon it became clear that part of the problem was that the actors were not comfortable in their costumes and hairstyles. Sure, they were put into costumes, hats, hairdo's and some wigs, but they had not been instructed on how to hold themselves, walk, and gesture in ways that would work with those clothes and hairstyles. Those poor actors used very casual modern movements and poor posture that were dead give-aways for not portraying the ways of that more reserved, formal "age" convincingly.
After watching for a time, I began to wonder why I felt so unable to get into the movie. Soon it became clear that part of the problem was that the actors were not comfortable in their costumes and hairstyles. Sure, they were put into costumes, hats, hairdo's and some wigs, but they had not been instructed on how to hold themselves, walk, and gesture in ways that would work with those clothes and hairstyles. Those poor actors used very casual modern movements and poor posture that were dead give-aways for not portraying the ways of that more reserved, formal "age" convincingly.
Little purple bird Kids naturally like to pretend. I have three little grandkids who have no trouble pretending to be kitties or puppies or even dinosaurs for long periods of time. Let's hope the slightly older children in my summer theater camp will be able to stay in character for the duration of the the play at least. Hopefully costumes, despite their simplicity, will help.
We will work with each child to help them figure out movements that will interpret their characters. The Rhino and Hippo will need to use heavy, forceful motions. The birds will need to use light, fluid movements. The jungle cats can be slinky. And so forth. We want them to have mastered acting like their animal character well before they put on their costumes. However, we will endeavor to give them ample practice time in their costumes so they can feel comfortable.
The goal is to have them convincingly portray their characters!
The goal is to have them convincingly portray their characters!
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