Dressing the dramaturgs

Greek Furies in revealing feather-and-rag costumes slink across the stage. A brunette actress in a flowing purple dress gets caught up in a magical battle. Drag queens in sparkly gowns and pink dreadlocks reveal they are from another world. And an unexpected hero is found in an over-enthusiastic lifeguard. These characters in the School of Drama's latest play, "Rough Magic," are all wearing costumes designed by the play's student costume designer, Peter Donnelly. Donnelly spent months researching, drawing, gluing, and dyeing to create all of the costumes seen on stage. There are about 23 behind-the-scenes crew members working on "Rough Magic." Donnelly is just one of the components of "Rough Magic," which opened yesterday, Nov. 30.; throughout its transition from script to stage, "Rough Magic" has had a team of 50 people working on it. Roughly 15 are UW faculty, 12 students are actors, and the rest are students doing behind-the-scenes work. The play is set between the contrasting settings of New York City and Oresteia, a magical island at the edge of the world. Melanie is an overworked theater buff from New York City with magical powers. She is thrust into the battle between Prospero, an evil sorcerer, and his son, Caliban, who is searching for someone who can defeat his abusive father. Donnelly, a UW senior in the drama-production major, began his work as costume designer for the show over the summer by researching and designing every costume in the play. In total, there are more than 100 costume pieces. Some of them were made by the UW costume shop, while others came from the extensive costume collection, and Donnelly purchased some. In "Rough Magic," the characters move effortlessly between the two worlds, but the technical aspects - costuming, lighting, and sound - all give the audiences clear clues. "This show is a tricky show. It's got a lot of different worlds and a lot of different characters and a lot of layers and sort of subtleties to communicate," Donnelly said. "[The] costumes in the show really help clarify for the audience who the characters are." Donnelly said that he thinks audiences often don't realize the amount of work that goes into costume design. "I think a lot of times people might write off costuming as, 'Oh, well he's just wearing what he's supposed to be wearing,' but that's the result of hours of research," Donnelly said. Donnelly also said that while he designed all of the costumes, he did not do most of the major construction work. He had a team of assistants and seamstresses who helped bring his costumes to life. He said he discovered as he progressed that his design aesthetic involved a lot of craft elements, so he spent a lot of time creating and dyeing wigs and even gluing things together in the drama department's costume shop. Myra Platt is not a UW faculty member or student but a guest director. She is a co-founder of the Book-It Repertory Theatre in Seattle. Platt said that despite the entertaining themes of magic and the power of theater, she thinks the play has a larger meaning, including unexpected heroism and overcoming trauma and abuse. "The premise of the play, I think, comes out of a post-9/11 response to how superheroes in our world can magically make things better or worse," she said. Platt said that, because the play has its feet in two different worlds, one of the biggest challenges was to make sure that it all made sense. The main way the crew did this was through costuming. According to Platt, the actors spend up to 26 hours a week just in rehearsals, and the tech people are there for even longer. Anneka Kielman said she is the first to get to rehearsals and the last one to leave. The senior is a theater production and communications major and the stage manager for "Rough Magic." It is her responsibility during rehearsals to schedule everyone, keep notes, and keep things moving on time. When showtime comes, she is responsible for calling the sound, lighting, prop, and actors' cues. "The biggest thrill is calling a show," she said. "There's something about live theater that is [unlike] anything I've ever seen or done before. If something happens backstage, you have to make a split-second decision that will affect the rest of the show." Donnelly said that when the play ends, he will miss working on "Rough Magic." "As intense as it's been through this whole process, I'm going to really miss it once we open," he said. "I'm going to miss the team and the family we've developed." Platt said the play was written with an open-ending conclusion, and she gave the decision to the cast and crew whether they wanted to end it positively or negatively. "I think whenever we're in our darkest moments there [are] opportunities for humor," Platt said. "[The playwright] has defined the things that can make us laugh right in the midst of something that is terrifying, and that's true life, that's just real." Reach contributing writer Sarah Radmer at development@dailyuw.com.

Dressing the dramaturgs

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