I hope you've been having a good time since we were last together. Today I'd like to talk to you about a few things, well, two things really. This entry is props and costumes and how I hate them.
I think it has something to do with my experience as an actor, but aside from a few exceptions, props and costumes have always felt like an unnecessary pain. To me (in my broad interpretation of realist, "good" theater) a character should be defined almost entirely by the actor, an aspect which the character's costume should at most lightly contribute to. However, my opinion is not shared as I've seen productions where costumes upstage and in some cases take the place of actual acting. Therefore, when directing I prefer the minimalist approach. I look to improv as a positive, though extreme example, where in the long-form you can create very real characters without any costumes and pantomiming props.
In fact, the less extraneous [vulgarity redacted] I have to deal with as a director (besides the actors) the better. As Shakespeare once famously said: "Keep it simple you stupid idiot." In my show we will have costumes and we will have props, in fact Joseph and I blew (chuckle) out a bunch of eggs to use in the finale of the show. I won't spoil what they are for, but feel free to watch this very strange tutorial from which we learned how to do it. I too, one day, aspire to be a Modern Mom.
However, in spite of all the blowing I've made choices to constrict costumes and props to a minimalist level, because it would be stupid to spend that much energy on them as opposed to working with the actors. Not that you couldn't do both, but we are all students here.
Since we'll be doing work on the show nearly every day from this point onward, expect more posts in the near future.
No comments:
Post a Comment