My main role in Hand me down, is playing a vital part in the performance, I have undertaken the role of helping with organising costume, alongside Libby. The pictures below are diagrams to show the initial idea behind each scene, when costume is needed in Take me by the Tongue . This is to understand what each performer may need to have in a particular scene, to help us with the process of the station layout of what needs to be where. I’ve done these diagrams to help Libby, Andy and myself to see what we may need in order to get an accurate list of what is needed for our production of Take me by the tongue. These diagrams are very helpful and in future productions is a very useful concept to help us organize, allowing all members of Hand me Down to see and contribute to what would work best for the costume designs. Each costume is a representation of the character, allowing the costumes to be easy and quick, to make a smooth transition to each station and scene. The use of having an item of clothing or a prop, creates the illusion of becoming someone, in front of the audience, again heightening the fact that we are not ourselves when we have a prop or costume in the performance space. This idea of having this concept, allow us to frame our scenes and transitions through out the performance.
(First Sketches: Jessica Jarvis 2014)
The variety of text we use range from past and present and particularly in one of our scenes in Take me by the Tongue you will be able to see the different between past and present, without even using language, just by communicating with props and costume. David Roman talks about image and the ‘process and exchange-between artists and audiences, between the past and present where new societal formations emerge’ (2009,Vi) this helps us to play on props and costumes to show the difference in time and the fact that things don’t change. Using obvious props and costumes again helps to communicate effectively and easily for our audience to grasp.
Hiccup Theatre Company recently performed at the LPAC with their interpretation of Pinocchio. It was a very relaxed pre set with the actors on stage, which allowed the audience to admire the aesthetics of the production. In Take me by the Tongue, we do something very similar, allowing the audience to feed in and take in what is going on around them. This allows the production to be framed by the use of minimalistic set and create the atmosphere of the first scene. For Take me by the Tongue the stations provided are what frames the production, beautifully designed by Libby Sober, our set designer. The idea of an minimalistic staging frames the importance sections of the performance using minimalistic style to our piece it is said to allow ‘focusing on fundamentals that are not marred or hidden by the introduction of secondary elements’ (WiseGeek,2014) this approach of minimalism allows the presentation of Hand me Down to stage the production using movement from the actors to framing the direction of the performance. Having minimalistic costume links very nicely with the aesthetics of the staging and the overall fell of the production. The concept of our piece challenging perceptions, and having an minimalistic setting can be seen as ‘retiring from the busy-ness of the world and entering into a sanctuary that is un-cluttered and serene’ (Wisegeek,2014)helping the audience to watch and reflect on the production of Take me by the Tongue.
Throughout this process we have been discussing the base of what the performers are going to wear. We didn’t want all black as that is seen as ‘cliché’ we liked the idea of black bottoms and grey shirts, not necessarily all the same, as we are who we are, keeping the idea of having what style of top you would normally wear and we like the idea we all have the same colour. The grey colour indicates neutralism, allowing it to draw a straight line to show that we are all equal, due to the fact that our productions draws upon feminism and beauty etc., so as a theatre company we decided that this idea would frame our production well. The use of having one item of clothing symbolises a different character, making it efficient when changing from scene to scene. The use of costume and props have been used to compliment the character, working together as a representation, making it a clear overview of who each person is. This concept of using one items of props and costumes is something that we can work with in future productions touching upon other themes in future performances. The London Contemporary Theatre company receive no regular funding, which is a similar situation to Hand me Down Theatre. They use the support of others to contribute costumes, props, money donation and theatrical equipment. For Hand me Down this would be an excellent tool for us to consider in future prospects for future performances, for finance reasons.
Conjecture Corporation. (2003-2014). Minimalistic. Available: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-minimalism.htm. Last accessed 28th May 2014.
2013 London Contemporary Theatre Ltd . (2013). Supporting Us. Available: http://www.londoncontemporarytheatre.com/support/index.html. Last accessed 28 May 2014.
Treidman.J (2009) Performing different representation of the other in film and theater. USA.