Attending each presentation was the director, the cast, the set designer, the wardrobe supervisor, the production manager and myself as costume designer. The meetings took place in the assigned rehearsal rooms for each production.
The aim of the presentation was to communicate as clearly as possible what the actors would be wearing to aid them to understand and consider during rehearsal what their character would look like.
Tender
This meeting was formal but relaxed. The room was set with a group of chairs in a circle with us all gathered around. The meeting started with an introduction from the cast and crew. The set box was placed on a table in the centre of the group and was discussed first. The actors asked questions and both the set designer and director answered any issue which arose. The presentation of the costumes followed. The designs which had been printed on A3 were large enough for the entire group to see. (7 cast member, 1 director and 4 crew). I chose not to place the designs on the table but to perch them in front of me on my knee whist sitting down. This informal approach seemed appropriate to the situation and I felt confident in that position to present the designs to the actors. The tone of the presentation was directed toward the actors though it is helpful for the wardrobe supervisor to hear what I had to say about the designs I had already planned to meet her after the presentation to discuss the costumes in more detail. The designs seemed to be reserved well. Some giggles came from the cast when I presented the costume design for Squeal as they felt it amusing that he would be wearing a pink dressing gown and commented on the size of his a legs. I felt the reaction was affectionate apposed to mocking of the designs at this time. The director was quite active during the presentation adding ideas and additional items of costume which had not been discussed before. Though I was willing to comply I felt that it was unprofessional at this stage. However it has highlighted that perhaps these things were not discussed or observed at the last meeting. Prior to the presentation I had sent the designs off to the director to look at but he informed me on the day that he had not been able to access them because of a technical problem. At the end of the presentation I offered the director the option to keep a copy of the designs. I had printed them out in both A3 and A4 format. He chose the A4 format and I had a feeling at that point they were put in his folder never to be looked at again.
La Ronde
This meeting took place in a similar format. The presentation was formal but relaxed. The chairs were set in a circle and the actors had full view of the designs. Interestingly the director in this instance had already presented the set design and therefore the design presentation focused directly on costume. There was a strong buzz in the room and it seemed that the director had hyped up the actors ready to receive the presentation. The designs were received a great response. The actors seemed excited and keen to see what they would be wearing. The director of La Ronde chose to not input into the presentation but merely supported my descriptions of the costumes and how I thought they would help communicate character. It was hard not to over focus the my explanation of the costumes by talking about the characterisation as this was the job of the director and I not want to over step the mark.
I offered the director and cast at this meeting a print out of the designs as they pleasingly took the A3 versions which they commented would be put on their inspiration board to support their rehearsal and character development.
Mary Barton
This presentation was very different as a rehearsal was taking place as we entered the room. Once the actors had stopped their activity a table was pulled into the centre of the room for the set box to be placed on. This meeting was very informal almost too informal. The director gathered the cast of 13 together who chose to just bunch around the table. The director at this stage stepped away and it was hard for the rest of the crew to get a clear view of the set box while it was being presented. My presentation of the costume designs took a similar format. I placed the designs on the table with actors huddled around. This style of presenting did throw me and I felt it the least professional presentation of the day. As I went though each character the actors did seem hooked and asked questions when they felt they needed to.
Overall observation:
When talking about a character I tried in all presentation to focus the discussion on the actor who would be performing in the costume. I felt is essential to not only engage with them as actors but use the presentation as a means to start establishing a relationship with the individual actors. Interestingly 2 actors’ from Mary Barton after the presentation did choose to talk to the director about a few minor issues which they had about their costume which obviously demonstrates that they did not feel they could talk to me yet. The issues were easily resolved when the director asked me to join the conversation.
The presentations are just a starting point for the actors to engage with the play visually, this helps them contextualise the work they are doing with the environment that they will be performing in, including the clothes they will wear. It is also the first interaction the actors have with the production team and where the relationship starts too established between the technical and performance side of the production.
Post Production meeting with Wardrobe.
This meeting took place is a quiet office away from the rehearsal studios. The meeting consisted of myself and the 3 supervisors who would be working on each show. At the meeting I gave the three supervisors a folder containing copies of the costume designs with fabric samples (were necessary). The folder which was A4 contained printed versions of the A3 designs presented at the meeting that morning. I had not attached presented a sample of the fabric at the morning presentation as I felt it was more relevant for the supervisors to have a sample and I had already shown the fabric to the directors at the design meetings. I briefly went through each production and we discussed options on which designs would be hired and made. Also as I was working with 3 supervisors it was essential that I established a timetable with them therefore being available when I was needed. This initial meeting focused mainly on logistics apposed to aesthetics.
On reflection I should have meet the supervisors separately as the discussion only skimmed the surface however the timeframe was good to discuss in a group situation.
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