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IB Theatre Arts Project: Costume Design for 'Three Women in a Caf

2.957 Wörter / ~15 Seiten sternsternsternsternstern_0.2 Autorin Gudrun H. im Jun. 2016
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Dokumenttyp

Endarbeit
Englisch

Universität, Schule

HLW Auhof Linz

Note, Lehrer, Jahr

3,Neuweg, 2014

Autor / Copyright
Gudrun H. ©
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ID# 57797







001007-0012


Independent Project Portfolio

Session: May 2014

Word Count: 2,990

Candidate Number: 001007-0012


Table of Contents:


Introduction pg.3

Play Summary pg.3-4

Characterization of House Scientist pg.4-5

Independent Research pg.5-8

Costume Preparation pg.8-10

The Performance pg.11-12

Conclusion pg.12

Bibliography pg.13


Based on my experiences in the IB Theatre Arts course as well as the research I have done, I have chosen to design costumes for the play Three Women in a Café written by Sandra Brandstetter. By taking on this role I will be responsible for coming up with appropriate costumes which portray the characters personality clearly without using stereotypes. However, this can be quite difficult due to the costume having to portray the person’s character both internally and externally.

My main focus will be the costume for the housewife scientist because I believe this will be the most interesting one to create where I can use my imagination. I was very interested in this time period, the 1950’s, because I adore the clothes that they wore during this time and I enjoy learning more about how this fashion came to be during that time. During the course we did not get a chance to focus on costumes as much as I would have liked to, therefore this was my chance to explore this element by myself.

Play Summary:

The play is set in a Viennese Café in Heaven. There are four main characters, the Housewife scientist, the normal scientist, the feminist scientist, and the waiter. The three scientists all come from different time periods the housewife scientist is from the 1950’s, the normal scientist is from the present day, and the feminist scientist is from the 1980’s. In the beginning of the play the room is dark, except for a screen that is projecting the death notices of when the three scientists have died, during this time the three scientists work their way on to the stage and are already seated on stage when the lights turn on.

The three of them are in the Café discussing feminist situations, two of the situations that the feminist scientist and the normal scientist were involved in are acting out in the Café by the other characters to give the audience a clear picture of how it happened. There is also another character that is not shown on stage, Rosaline Franklin. During her time she did not dress or act like a lady should and she was also considered unattractive, so it was decided that she would not be presented on stage due to her lack of ladylike behavior and lack of beauty.

It ends with the scientists looking into the audience and asking what they think about feminism, which is using a Brechtian alienation technique due to the characters breaking the fourth wall. The play is not really characterized into one genre of theatre because when the playwright wrote it she didn’t focus on any theatre genre. I would say the play hints at Epic theatre due to the Brechtian alienation techniques which were mentioned before.

We have practiced and talked in depth about these alienation techniques and the director thought it would fit well to this play which I completely agree with.

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The stage was covered with a big white sheet and there were clouds hung up on the walls and stage. There were two tables placed on the stage one big table was placed upstage center and it was also covered with a white sheet, the other table was placed upstage left where the normal scientist was seated at the beginning of the play. The clouds and white sheet were used to represent heaven; however the director also decided to use some Brechtian alienation techniques such as hanging up a sign on the backstage center wall labeled “heaven”.

Figure 1 below shows how the stage was set up by the director to create the image of heaven.

Figure 1

Characterization of Housewife Scientist:

Since I have chosen to focus on designing a costume for the housewife scientist the characterization my colleagues gave her as well as the research I had done helped me create the ideal costume for her. The housewife scientist does not feel suppressed by men and is happy with her role as a housewife and to take care of the children and clean up around the house.

She believes it is a women’s duty to take care of her husband and it is a man’s duty to work and earn money for his family. When the other scientists take about feminism she does not get offended or annoyed she just sticks to her opinion on how she feels about it and wishes that the feminist scientist would not feel so provoked by men. Television, radio, and magazines bombarded women into thinking this was their job because they depicted women in the kitchen serving dinner, cleaning, etc.

The housewife scientist has been brainwashed into thinking this is her duty and she must fulfill it. Figure 21 above illustrates that woman should be able to cook dinner, take care of the children and husband and that they should enjoy it and they have the time to do it which intrigues woman to try to be the best wife and mother they can be. However, she was still a scientist and also needed time to work on experiments and creations.

She did not have a lot of time for this due to all the tasks she had to do at home first, she could not start working on anything until her children were already asleep or early in the morning before work. She could not carry her work outside of the house and always had to work at home. She also received help from her husband because she believes he has the knowledge to help her and make her experiments better.

Figure 2

To initiate my investigation I had to do some research on the 3 time periods the three main characters were given. Before doing research on deciding on a costume for the normal scientist, I had the idea of having her wear a white lab coat and black trousers. However, after finding an article about what scientists wear to work I quickly changed my mind. Even though we assume that scientists run around in a lab coat all day they are still average people like us who wear what they want and like.

When scientists meet for interviews with non-scientists they usually like to dress more formal, which is normal for meeting with important people such as University Presidents and VIPS to kick it up a notch to create a better image of yourself. However, you shouldn’t overdo it, a biophysicist stated, “I'm more likely to believe the science of somebody wearing a nice pair of khaki pants and a shirt than somebody wearing the whole 'CEO costume'”.

This portrays that scientist are mostly seen as more casual rather than showing up in a suit and tie to work.2 In another article I found the difference between how men and women dress in their job as scientists. Men usually wear cargo pants or jeans with a button down t-shirt however, if there is a meeting they will put on a button-down shirt. Women wear jeans and shirt with a cardigan and sometimes the occasional blazer as seen in Figure 3.3 What you wear, especially for woman in science and professionalism is crucial because most of the time men will be taken seriously regardless of what they wear, however women feel the need to dress professional in order to be noticed or respected.

For women it is not about what you do but more about how you look.4

Figure 3

The Housewife Scientist was described as being very supportive of men and everything they do, her character should be portrayed in a very girly and mother like manner. In the 1950’s women were always busy around the house and had a set of rules they had to follow which they enjoyed doing. The woman must always have dinner ready on the table when her husband comes home which lets him know you have been thinking about him all day.

Women were expected to wear stiletto heels, wrist length gloves, and billowing skirts, even women who were working had to wear pencil skirts and hats with details like feathers and veils. Figure 46 is a perfect example of what a housewife would wear during that time. Prints came back in a big way from floral to stripe prints, floral skirts were contrasted on a plain skirt whereas polka dots showed up on contrasting colors like red on white (like seen in the dress above) or blue on white.

The look of the 1950s was created in 1940s by Christian Dior’s collected Corolle. The collection contrasted the austere of the 1940s and with full skirts and clothing that emphasized the hour-glass figure. Christian Dior’s fashion remained so high that other fashion houses had to follow his innovations. Women were also allowed to wear pants; they would wear loose hostess pants to short shorts which made a huge inroad in women’s fashion.

However, on dress occasions outside of the house or going downtown dresses were still required.7

Figure 4

The time period 1980’s was shown for the feminist scientist due to this being the time where “power dressing” was introduced. Shoulder pads become really popular during the 1980s because it was not unusual anymore to have woman in a working place and they wanted to “power dress” to show that they were equals to men. Power dressing was defined as the wearing of expensive business clothes which indicates status.

Power dressing made a huge impact on woman. Before the 1970s woman were confined to jobs such as being a secretary, however by the 1980s women become lawyers, politicians, and much more. Power dressing allowed women to be taken seriously and gave the impression of confidence and authority. Women softened their look by wearing blouses underneath.9

Figure 5

Costume Preparation:

Normal Scientist:

For the normal scientist I wanted the costume to look similarly to the outfit in figure 6.10 I believe this would be the appropriate outfit because like it was said in the research I did before woman wore more casual clothes to work but women did have to look slightly more formal to be taken seriously. I decided a blazer would make them look more professional without making it to girly and the jeans make it seem like the character wasn’t trying too hard.

However, the character shouldn’t lose her feminine side so I thought heels and a little bit of accessories would keep it balanced.

Figure 6

Feminist Scientist:

The suit will still display her as a powerful woman however the shirt will portray her still being a woman and that she should be an equal to men no matter what. The feminist scientist wore her hair down and wore very little makeup, with the exception of blush and a little bit of mascara however, I portrayed her very professional and serious.

Figure 7

Housewife Scientist: Due to the Housewife scientist being the character I have decided to focus on the most, I had to put more time and effort into thinking about how I should create her costume. I couldn’t decide on whether I should find a dress with polka dots or floral or what colors I should use. I imagined the dress to like similar to the one in figure 8.12 I decided to choose floral instead of polka dots because it was more feminine and it fit the character playing the housewife scientist better.

Figure 8

However, the dress that the character wore in the play was black and white floral which will be shown later on. I also decided that chose to put a sun hat on the actor which is seen in figure 9.13 The hat makes the character look like a classy and feminine lady. Since the housewife scientist probably didn’t have a lot of time to work on science outside of her home I did not add any accessories to her costume that would indicate her being a scientist.

Mind map:

Cardigan to cover the shoulders.

Outfit: Dress (floral, polka dot, stripes) flowy.

Outfit: Suit which is similar to the “power suit”.


Accessories: Optional sunhat, jewelry (bracelets or necklace.


1950s.

1980s.

Housewife Scientist


Feminist Scientist

Very gentle and inviting makeup, rosy pink blush for the cheeks.

Costume Ideas


Floral or polka dot shirt to add some girly features.


Light makeup, hair should be in a bun or down.


Accessories: Jewelry to glam the outfit up.

Normal Scientist


Light makeup, glasses, hair up.

Outfit: Blazer, jeans, maybe heels.


Present day.


The Performance:

Our team, Sandra Brandstetter, the writer, Viktoria Pree, the director, and me, the costume designer had two performances. Both of the performances went really well and I believe the audience enjoyed watching. After the performance when the characters break the fourth wall and ask what they think about feminism, there was a discussion held between the audience and we all could give an opinion of what we thought.

The final result of the housewife scientists costume can be seen in figure 10. The floral dress similarly compares to the dress I had imagined it to look like which can be seen back in figure 8. The dress looks exactly like a something woman would wear back in the 1950’s. However, I arranged a white cardigan to cover the shoulders to make the character look classier and accessories such as the sun hat and a necklace which portray a very feminine woman.

The normal scientist and the feminist scientist can be seen in figure 11. The normal scientist who is standing upstage center left is wearing a simple blazer, jeans, and high heeled boots which also resembles how I had desired it to be in figure 6. The costume makes the character look intelligent and very professional. The blazer and glasses and the pulled back hair make her look very serious and business like whereas the jeans dress it down a bit so she does not look like she is overdoing it.

The heels are not too fancy like the black stilettos shown in figure 6; they are not too feminine looking due to them being closed brown heels. However, they are still heels which give her feminine yet professional look. The feminist scientist is sitting down on the chair upstage center. The feminist scientist is wearing a gray business suit that resembles the “Power Suit” in figure 7. The picture does not clearly show the shirt she is wearing however, she is wearing a blue shirt with white polka dots on top.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I was very pleased with the work and effort that I had but into this independent project. The outcome of costumes that were presented during the two performances were exactly like I had imagined them to be. I did a lot of research on three different time periods to find the information about how the costumes should be presented depending on how it was in society during that time and what women were and weren’t allowed to do.

I improved my knowledge and it was most fascinating for me to gain more information about the 1950’s where the housewife scientist came from, I learned about the history of how the new fashion of the 1950’s came about and what women felt about being a housewife and what their duties were. In the future, if I ever take on a task like this again I would like to experiment more with using different types of fabrics and combing them to make a new complete costume.

I have learned that the research you do gives you the push that you need to start being creative and designing the costumes.



Kuchner, Marc. "What Should We Wear? Advice from Scientists about Clothing and Fashion."
SciLogscom. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. <

"Being Taken Seriously: The Double Standard."
Neurotic Physiology. N.p., 2 Apr. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. <

"1950s Housewife Rules."
1950s Housewife Rules. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2014. <

"1950s Fashion."
1950s Fashion. N.p., 8 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 Jan. 2014. <

"Power Suit."
- Voguepedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. <

"Fashion Encyclopedia."
Power Dressing. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. <

"We Heart It."
We Heart It. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. <

1We Heart It

2SciLogscom

3We Heart It

4Neurotic Physiology

51950s Housewife Rules

6We Heart It

71950s Fashion

8 Voguepedia

9Power Dressing

10We Heart It

11We Heart It

12We Heart It

13We Heart It

3


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